friendship

Victoria Beckham only has five friends - and she's not the only one.

When Victoria Beckham admitted she only had five friends, she might have thought she was alone.

However, since the fashion designer and former Spice Girl’s revelation in Elle UK magazine this week, dozens of women have come forward as fellow members of the ‘Five Friends Club’.

The 43-year-old told Elle that instead of a large circle of friends, she prefers to spend time with those she really enjoys the company of.

Listen: How to tell if you’ve got an obligatory friend. And how to tell if it’s you. Post continues…

“I’m very close to my sister and a friend I went to school with, and then three or four others,” she said.

“I think a true friend understands that you can’t see them as much as you might want, because they’re busy as well.

“Everyone I’m friends with has a career and a family.”

But just because she only has a few close friends, doesn’t mean the mum-of-four is lonely – or anti-social.

“I never, ever feel lonely. I don’t have a lot of friends but I’m surrounded by people I genuinely like to be with,” she told Elle.

My @elleuk cover on stands next Thursday 13th April! X VB #VBxTarget @melartermakeup @kenpaves

A post shared by Victoria Beckham (@victoriabeckham) on

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“I’m not one of those antisocial, awkward sorts. I want to relax and have a laugh.

“I like to have fun and I think that often surprises people.”

The admission by Beckham has prompted other women to talk about their tight-knit friendship circles, including a writer at The Telegraph.

“To admit to lacking a large friendship group is to break one of our society’s biggest taboos. But that it exactly what Victoria Beckham has just done,” writes Telegraph contributor Antonia Hoyle.

Hoyle admits that she feels both “relief” and “a sense of failure” at her own friend tally, pointing to her busy life as a reason for not maintaining stronger friendships.

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Victoria Beckham broke a taboo when she spoke about having few friends. (Image via Getty.)
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Others took to social media to compare their own friendship circles to Beckham, including one Twitter user, who shared that it was her family and a few close friends that she turned to.

It seems like it's a lot more common than first thought - a fact that's backed up by research by British anthropologist Robin Dunbar.

His analysis of six billion phone calls, made by 35 million people across Europe, which found that most, on average, called just over four people frequently.

How many friends do you have?