Celebrities, whether they want them or not, arguably have a sense of responsibility to consider the influence they have on others – particularly on children who admire them. Some take it more seriously than others and it’s fair to say that kids could be more interested in the fictional furry friends from Paw Patrol than in the celebs gracing the front pages of gossip magazines.
But of the copious A-listers out there to choose from, if Mom and Dad were asked to select celebrity role models for their kids, who would they pick?
Well a survey of 2,000 British parents has the answer.
The poll, conducted by 3Gem on behalf of Perpetual Fostering, gave parents a complete free choice (no shortlist) of celebrities to name, resulting in 424 different people being named.
Richard Branson came out on top with 6.69% of the vote, followed closely by David Beckham (5.45%) and Lord Alan Sugar (4.44%).
Entrepreneurs and Business magnates make up 3 of the top 5 while politicians feature highly too:
Here’s the list of Top 50 Celebrity Role Models:
| Rank | Name | Occupation | Gender | % of Vote |
| 1 | Richard Branson | British Entrepreneur | M | 6.6860 |
| 2 | David Beckham | English Footballer | M | 5.4506 |
| 3 | Alan Sugar | British Entrepreneur | M | 4.4331 |
| 4 | Bill Gates | AmericanEntrepreneur | M | 4.2878 |
| 5 | Barack Obama | Former US President | M | 2.8343 |
| 6 | JK Rowling | British author | F | 2.4709 |
| 7 | David Attenbrough | British broadcaster and natural historian | M | 2.3256 |
| 8 | Holly Willoughby | English television presenter | F | 1.6715 |
| 9 | Michelle Obama | American lawyer | F | 1.5262 |
| 10 | Emma Watson | British actress | F | 1.3808 |
| 11 | Steve Jobs | American Entrepreneur | M | 1.3808 |
| 12 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portuguese footballer | M | 1.3081 |
| 13 | Stephen Hawking | English theoretical physicist | M | 1.2355 |
| 14 | Greta Thunberg | Swedish environmental activist | F | 1.2355 |
| 15 | Kate Middleton | British Royalty | F | 1.2355 |
| 16 | Will Smith | American actor and rapper | M | 1.1628 |
| 17 | Albert Einstein | Physicist developed the theory of relativity | M | 1.0901 |
| 18 | Donald Trump | President | M | 1.0901 |
| 19 | Elon Musk | American entrepreneur, | M | 1.0174 |
| 20 | Gordon Ramsey | British chef | M | 1.0174 |
| 21 | Dwayne Johnson | American-Canadian actor | M | 0.9448 |
| 22 | Boris Johnson | British Prime Minister | M | 0.9448 |
| 23 | Prince William | British Royalty | M | 0.9448 |
| 24 | Brian Cox | Physicist | M | 0.7994 |
| 25 | Mark Zuckerberg | American entrepreneur | M | 0.7267 |
| 26 | Jamie Oliver | British chef | M | 0.7267 |
| 27 | Beyonce Knowles | American singer- songwriter | F | 0.7267 |
| 28 | The Queen | British royalty | F | 0.7267 |
| 28 | Victoria Beckham | British Entrepreneur, fashion designer and singer | F | 0.6541 |
| 30 | Jesus Christ | Jewish preacher | M | 0.6541 |
| 31 | Oprah Winfrey | American media executive, presenter | F | 0.5814 |
| 32 | Prince Harry | British Royalty | M | 0.5814 |
| 33 | Nelson Mandela | South African anti-apartheid revolutionary and political leader | M | 0.5087 |
| 34 | Simon Cowell | English talent manager and entrepreneur | M | 0.5087 |
| 35 | Phillip Schofield | English television presenter | M | 0.5087 |
| 36 | Bear Grylls | British TV presenter | M | 0.5087 |
| 37 | Jessica Ennis-Hill | British track and field athlete | F | 0.5087 |
| 38 | Brad Pitt | American actor | M | 0.4360 |
| 39 | Keanu Reeves | Canadian actor and musician | M | 0.4360 |
| 40 | Leonardo Di Caprio | American actor | M | 0.4360 |
| 41 | Stephen Fry | English actor | M | 0.4360 |
| 42 | Peter Jones | British entrepreneur | M | 0.4360 |
| 43 | Ed Sheeran | British singer, songwriter | M | 0.4360 |
| 44 | Adele | British Singer-songwriter | F | 0.4360 |
| 45 | Ben Carson | American politician | M | 0.4360 |
| 46 | Gandhi | Indian lawyer and political ethicist | M | 0.4360 |
| 47 | Lionel Messi | Argentine footballer | M | 0.4360 |
| 48 | Michael Jackson | American singer, songwriter | M | 0.3634 |
| 49 | Andy Murray | Scottish Tennis Player | M | 0.3634 |
| 50 | Harry Kane | English footballer | M | 0.3634 |
Other key points from the findings:
- Women made up just 25% of the top 50 role models according to parents
- The top performing female in our survey was JK Rowling, netting 2.4% of the vote
- Both Barack and Michelle Obama feature in the top 10
- Greta Thunberg polled 14th
- While it was a poor showing on the whole for singers and actors, Beyonce stilled polled higher than Jesus!
Expert Comment
Lisa Witter, Manager of Perpetual Fostering comments:
“We love to get the views of parents on who makes the most positive role model for children. It’s interesting to see that names that have been around years still poll the highest. Newer names, like Greta Thunberg, who’ve had high profile coverage in 2019 performed well too. The top performing politician was Barack Obama, beating any British politician by 17 places.”
So there you have it. The celebs that parents most want their kids to idolize are typically entrepreneurs, thinkers and activists. And who said celebrity culture was shallow?
