Marie Claire UK Marie Claire UK
  • Fashion Fashion
      • Fashion
        • View all Fashion
        • Fashion Trends
        • Shopping
        • Watches and Jewellery
        • Fashion News
  • Beauty Beauty
      • Beauty
        • View all Beauty
        • Fragrance
        • Hair
        • Make Up
        • Skincare
        • Nails
        • Marie Claire Beauty Awards
  • Health Health
      • Health
        • View all Health
        • Fitness
        • Nutrition
        • Female Health
        • Wellbeing
  • Life Life
      • Life
        • View all Life
        • Opinions
        • Travel
        • Sustainability
        • Weddings
        • Money & Work
        • Competitions
  • Culture Culture
      • Culture
        • View all Culture
        • TV and Film
        • Celebrity News
        • Books
        • Royal News
  • Vouchers Vouchers
      • Clothing
        • View all Vouchers
        • Mint Velvet
        • Karen Millen
        • H&M
        • nobody's child
        • ASOS
        • ARKET
        • MANGO
      • Designer Clothing
        • View all Vouchers
        • Reiss
        • THE OUTNET
        • SSENSE
        • Mytheresa
        • Liberty London
        • Selfridges
        • Farfetch
      • Accessories
        • View all Vouchers
        • AllSaints
        • Aspinal of London
        • Charles & Keith
        • River Island
        • FitFlop
        • Kate Spade
        • Vagabond
      • Jewellery
        • View all Vouchers
        • Pandora
        • Abbott Lyon
        • Goldsmiths
        • Beaverbrooks
        • Astrid & Miyu
        • Swarovski
        • Angara Jewellery
      • Beauty
        • View all Vouchers
        • Sephora
        • Cult Beauty
        • Space NK
        • Dyson
        • Clarins
        • Look Fantastic
        • Clinique
      • Activewear
        • View all Vouchers
        • Lululemon
        • Gymshark
        • Sweaty Betty
        • Nike
        • adidas
        • New Balance
        • Helly Hansen
  • NEWSLETTER Signup to our newsletter
  • logoCreated with Sketch.
    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!


    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    You are now subscribed

    Your newsletter sign-up was successful


    An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
    Trending
    • Women in Sport 2026
    • Marie Claire Masters
    • Autumn Winter 2026
    • Nail Trends 2026
    • Best Investment Bags
    • Best Perfumes
    1. Life
    2. Relationships

    A lot more people cancel on friends to stay in than you think

    We have - uh - things to do.

    Megan C. Hills's avatar
    By Megan C. Hills
    Published 19 July 2017 In Features

    When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

    cancel on friends
    (Image credit: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock)
    • Facebook
    • X
    • Pinterest
    Share this article
    Join the conversation
    Follow us
    Add us as a preferred source on Google
    Subscribe to our newsletter

    We have - uh - things to do.

    We’re living in the post-FOMO generation, apparently. A new study has revealed over half of Brits have cancelled on their friends to stay at home and mosey about on the couch - completely guilt-free. Some have even gone as far as to cancel on weddings to stay in, so you’d better make sure the new Game of Thrones season premiere doesn’t clash with the happiest day of your life.

    According to research by DFS, 56% of Brits have cancelled on plans to spend time at home. Getting all dressed up to go clubbing was the biggest casualty in the game of FOGO (the fear of going out), with 68% cancelling on nights out to curl up in bed for an early bedtime.

    cancel on friends

    Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock
    (Image credit: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock)

    Others gave the sunshine and grilled meats a miss, with one in ten choosing to spend quality time with the best Netflix shows rather than go for a summer barbecue with friends. A tiny 5% had gone as far as to cancel on their friend’s weddings to stay inside - given that binging television together is good for your relationship, maybe they were just busy working on their own romance.

    GIPHY

    Cancelling was a more common occurrence than you’d think, with one in ten people skipping out on their besties remorse-free every two weeks. The study also revealed that we spend an average of 21 hours in our living rooms each week - that's nearly an entire day getting comfy on the couch. Easy access to home dinner deliveries through HungryHouse and Deliveroo, as well as access to home TV streaming services like BBC iPlayer and Netflix definitely don't help either.

    You may like
    • A woman running into the sunset on the beach "Soft Hermitting" Is Trending on TikTok—and Promises to Be the Antidote to Hustle Culture
    • Health freelancer Anna Bartter treating friendship as a wellness habit: at a concert, at a bar, and with friends I Treated Friendship Like a Wellness Habit for Two Months—It Changed My Mental Health More Than I Expected
    • Two women at the beach, friends spending the day together Trust Me, I'm a Behavioural Scientist—Friendships Are One of the Most Powerful Yet Overlooked Health Tools

    I mean, we’ve all cancelled on our friends before to stay in. There are few things more important than a brand new season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. But given that it's becoming more of a trend, this is one bad habit we should probably be trying to break.

    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!

    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
    Megan C. Hills
    Megan C. Hills
    Social Links Navigation

    Megan is a freelance journalist who covers entertainment and all things lifestyle, with a particular passion for fashion, beauty, travel and Keanu Reeves stories. She has previously worked on staff for titles including Marie Claire UK, CNN Style and The Evening Standard and has written for titles such as Bustle UK, Wallpaper*, Forbes and Hong Kong Tatler. She splits her time between London and her hometown Hong Kong, where she currently lives with the love of her life - an elderly dog named Poppy - and her husband. 

    Read more
    A woman running into the sunset on the beach
    Wellbeing "Soft Hermitting" Is Trending on TikTok—and Promises to Be the Antidote to Hustle Culture
    Health freelancer Anna Bartter treating friendship as a wellness habit: at a concert, at a bar, and with friends
    Wellbeing I Treated Friendship Like a Wellness Habit for Two Months—It Changed My Mental Health More Than I Expected
     
     
    Two women at the beach, friends spending the day together
    Wellbeing Trust Me, I'm a Behavioural Scientist—Friendships Are One of the Most Powerful Yet Overlooked Health Tools
    A woman's collarbones with a shell necklace and slip camisole top
    Wellbeing "Protecting Your Boundaries" Is One of 2026's Biggest Buzzphrases—But Therapists Say We're Using It Wrong
     
     
    Latest in Relationships
    Louise O'Neill started dating at 39 -- here's what she learnt
    Relationships I Started Dating Again at 39. Here Are 21 Things I Learned About Men
    Wedding planning
    Relationships I Love My Fiancé, but I Resent the Emotional Labour of Planning Our Wedding
     
     
    Wicker husband: Alexander Skarsgård and Olivia Coleman in the new film Wicker
    Relationships Move Over Regular Men and AI Boyfriends, The “Wicker Husband” Has Arrived
    Emotionally Unavailable Men: Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie in Wuthering Heights
    Relationships Why Are We Still Glamourising Emotionally Unavailable Men?
     
     
    Latest in Features
    What to ask for at the hair salon
    Hair Here's What to Ask For at the Hair Salon to Get What You Actually Want
    NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 10: Anne Hathaway attends Moncler Fifth Avenue Flagship Opening at 767 Fifth Avenue on September 10, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by The Hapa Blonde/GC Images)
    Life The “Hot Pregnancy” Era Is Supposedly Empowering. It Just Made Me Feel Worse...
     
     
    woman wearing shift dress navy top
    Shopping I Just Got Back From Milan—This Retro-Inspired Dress Is What Italian Women Wear to Look Polished
    Sienna Miller red jackets white jeans
    Fashion Sienna Miller's Easy Autumn Outfit Highlights How to Wear the Colour of the Season
     
     
    logoCreated with Sketch.
    • Site Archive
    • Contact Future's experts
    • Contact us
    • Terms and conditions
    • Advertise with us
    • Privacy policy
    • Cookies policy
    • About us
    Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google

    Marie Claire UK is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

    © Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.