Diamond reveals Duchess of Cambridge as UK's most admired female 'celebrity'

New research has revealed the thoughts of young women on modern celebrity culture. Women's car insurance specialist Diamond surveyed 1,800 women aged 18 to 30 about all things celebrity and found Cheryl Cole is the star young women most want to look like, Beyoncé has the talent most desire and the Duchess of Cambridge is the woman they most admire.

The study also revealed more than a quarter (27%) of young women follow their favourite celebrities on social media whilst almost one in ten (9%) said they are obsessed by celebrity culture.

Almost a quarter (24%) of the women questioned said they would like to live the celebrity life, one in 20 (5%) told Diamond they even go to known celeb hangouts and 3% have even applied to reality TV shows in their search for celebdom. One in five women thought talent matters when it comes to making it as a celebrity.

Natalie Grimshare, spokesperson for Diamond said: "There's little doubt that most celebrities lead privileged lives so it’s perhaps not surprising many young women covet their looks, talent, and lifestyle.

"But despite reality TV and its stars having such a high profile in the UK, the reality star lifestyle doesn’t seem to be much of a draw for the young women we questioned. A quarter of women told us they would like to live the celeb lifestyle but a very small number have actually applied to appear on a reality show."

When it comes to lifestyle, a tranquil life in the countryside has more of an appeal to young women than clubbing in Ibiza or mingling with stars in Hollywood. Almost two out of five (37%) women questioned said living in a large house in the countryside with their family was the lifestyle they craved the most, followed by living in a villa on a Caribbean beach (17%) or a loft apartment in New York (16%). One in ten (11%) said living in a mansion in LA appealed to them whilst just 6% said they would like to spend their time partying in Ibiza or clubbing in Chelsea.

Young women also expect the celeb life to be expensive and whilst Keira Knightly might have us believe she earned just £30,000 in salary last year, the women Diamond questioned thought they would need a great deal more. They believe they would need an average of £331,000 to live like a celebrity for one year, while nearly one in three (30%) thought they would need in excess of £1m.

Money was deemed the biggest perk of celebrity but always looking groomed and made up and having nice clothes were voted second and third best. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the lack of privacy and unwanted media attention were voted as the worst things.

Almost one fifth (19%) of the women questioned thought you can tell someone is a celebrity just by looking at them, almost a quarter (23%) try to look as good as celebrities and a similar amount (24%) go as far as basing their look on pictures of celebrities.

Diamond has created a fun video where showbiz presenter Sam Homewood takes girl next door Georgia from not-on-the-list to A-list plus there's all the tips women need to fake it to make it as a celebrity.

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Notes to Editors:
Diamond's survey of 1,800 UK women aged 18 to 30 was conducted by OnePoll in may 2013.

About Diamond:
Diamond, (a trading name of EUI Ltd) launched in 1997, and is part of Admiral Group plc. Diamond insurance offers its customers up to £300 of Handbag Cover and £300 of Child Seat Cover free as part of their comprehensive policy.

Diamond writes its motor insurance business to a consortium of insurers, these being:
- Admiral Insurance Company Limited,
- Admiral Insurance (Gibraltar) Limited, and
- Great Lakes Reinsurance (UK) plc.

The Admiral Group employs almost 5,000 people in the UK.

PR Contact:
Natalie Grimshare
Capital Tower
Greyfriars Road
Cardiff
CF10 3AZ
029 2043 4333
www.diamond.co.uk