Peter Kay, Michelle Keegan, and Marcus Rashford have topped the list of ideal celebrity flatmates in Manchester.
It’s been revealed thanks to a poll by Get Living of 1,000 people from Manchester.
Beloved Bolton-born comedian Kay, actress Keegan, and Manchester United and England star Rashford join other famous Manchester residents such as comedian Jason Manford, footballers Cristiano Ronaldo and Jack Grealish, soap stars Gemma Atkinson and Kym Marsh, and ex-Love Island contestants Molly-Mae and Tommy Fury in the top 10 of Manchester-dwellers people most want to share a home with.
The poll was commissioned by Get Living – which operates and rents homes at the pet-friendly neighbourhood New Maker Yards at Middlewood Locks, conveniently located between Manchester and Salford city centres – to celebrate the launch of a further 500 fully-furnished new homes to rent.
There’s also an additional flexible space for residents to use for co-working – named The Lock – which is home to 92Degrees’ second coffee shop in Manchester.
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The survey hasn’t just revealed the most ideal celebrity flatmates either.
If you’re a decent cook, know how to separate your plastics from your cardboard, and have a cracking sense of humour, then you’re also in luck as that means you’re one of the most desirable flatmates in Manchester.
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The poll found that those who can work from home without making a racket, give you some of their leftover takeaway, and don’t mind throwing a house party also came out as the best traits that people in the city of Manchester look for when choosing who they live with. Other top traits include being older than 32 and taller than six feet, a Manchester United fan, not flashy with their stuff, and a dog person.
Top 10 Qualities in a Flatmate
Clean and tidy
A sense of humour
Can accurately split the bills
Recycles properly
Hard-working
A good cook
Can fix things in the flat
Good taste in TV
Is quiet when they work from home
They read
The play is celebrating the launch of a further 500 homes for rent at New Maker Yards / Credit: Get Living
The revealing of the results from the poll also comes as New Maker Yards hosts an immersive play by Ancoats’ award-winning Hope Mill Theatre across a number of brand-new flats in the neighbourhood.
Titled‘Mates’, the play will celebrate the city’s culture and lifestyle, featuring immersive mediations, comedy, a photo booth and a house party complete with techno DJTicketholders to the free play can finish off the experience by enjoying a free pint or burger at Seven Bro7thers Beerhouse.
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The play is running between 13-21 November, and you can bag free tickets
Elsewhere in the poll, three quarters (75%) said Manchester was friendlier than any other city – with 138,935 residents claiming they never want to move out of the city – the top three most popular neighbourhoods in Manchester are the Northern Quarter, Spinningfields and Salford, the latter of which are within a 10 minute walk of New Maker Yards. Almost a third (31%) thought the city’s best feature was the fact there’s so much going on, despite it being less expensive than London.
For its new homes at New Maker Yards, Get Living has partnered withideal flatmate, the match-making platform for renters, and then commenting on the results of the survey, Tom Gatzen – Co-Founder at ideal flatmate – said: “When it comes to what people look for in a flatmate, this survey showed that in Manchester, it is all about having a great time and living with people you can build a friendship with outside the barriers of a standard flatmate relationship.
“It’s clear the people of Manchester value social qualities and spending time with people that can make them laugh and bond with over the same taste in TV programmes, all while eating a home-made meal.
“That said, my advice would be to ensure that you live with people you can see yourself spending time with rather than just passing each other in the corridor.”
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Kim Quickfall – General Manager of New Maker Yards at Get Living – added: “Our residents are always up for a good time, and with 500 new homes available to rent this winter, we wanted to showcase what living at New Maker Yards is all about [and] we’re delighted to be working with the incredible Hope Mill Theatre to take this immersive play out of the theatre and into our living rooms.”
The play is celebrating the launch of a further 500 homes for rent at New Maker Yards / Credit: Get Living
Like the sounds of New Maker Yards then?
Homes are available to rent starting from £940 per month for a one bedroom apartment, £1,190 pm for a two bed, and £1,695 pm for a three bed, with flexible tenancies, no fees, and no deposits.
Homes come ready with superfast WiFi included and pets live free.
Former Manchester United star Patrice Evra is set to make his MMA debut very soon
Danny Jones
In another somewhat left-field turn of events in the sporting world, ex-Manchester United star Patrice Evra is set to swap his boots for gloves as he prepares to make his MMA debut.
The retired Man United player and French international ended his playing days back in 2019 after a short one-year spell at West Ham, and has mostly worked as a pundit in recent years.
Evra, 43, stunned his millions of followers online and even more football and fight fans alike by announcing he would be trying his hand at combat sports earlier this week.
Hopping on social media to confirm the news, it’s fair to say he’s already relishing the challenge.
The former left-back made 379 appearances for the Red Devils, winning 14 trophies, but this will be his first in the European division of the Professional Fighters League (PFL), the second-biggest promotion in MMA after the UFC.
As far as we know, Evra has little to no background in fighting of any discipline, even if he was used to the more physical side of the game as a defender.
Writing via X on Friday, 25 April, the 2008 Champions League and ’09 Club World Cup winner, said: “I’m officially training for my first fight with PFL Europe. They will pick my opponent… They asked who I wanna face. I said: Luis Suárez.
“I’ll pay out of pocket. He can even bite me.”
Suárez, still playing at 38, was not only found guilty of at least three instances of biting other players but was famously charged with racially abusing Patrice Evra back in 2011, with the two sharing a strong feud ever since.
Now, since the Uruguayan striker is still playing professional football over in the MLS, alongside the one and only Lionel Messi at Inter Miami, we wouldn’t hold our breaths.
Nevertheless, it seems as though he will be fighting someone on 23 May, once an opponent is selected in the coming weeks.
Evra has been training with Cameroonian-French mixed martial artist and friend, Cédric Doumbé, a former kickboxing specialist and now an established fighter in the welterweight class.
Joking aside, although there are a lot of controversial moves that are legal in MMA, biting isn’t one of them – not that it ever stopped the former Liverpool forward in the past.
Speaking in an official press conference, Evra said: “I’ve performed on the world’s biggest stages, won every major trophy in football, but PFL Europe Paris will be an incredibly special night for me.
“I’ve been training alongside the best in the world for years, and they’ll also tell you I’m ready for this. I’m going to put on a show at the Accor Arena on 23 May, so come watch the spectacle.”
As out of the blue as it may seem, he obviously isn’t the only former athlete to have swapped one sport for another after calling time in their first career.
In fact, he’s not even the first United player to change lanes.
Mix-up leaves tourists bound for Peak District on a day trip to… Rochdale
Daisy Jackson
Who needs rolling hills and country pubs when you could have *checks notes* roadworks and charity shops?
Well, that’s the situation two people ended up in recently after a mix-up rerouted their trip to the Peak District to Rochdale, of all places.
Thankfully seeing the funny side, Canadian TikTok creator Mackenzie shared a video of the day trip they got stuck with.
The pair of mates had been planning a trip to the honeypot town of Castleton in the Peak District, but accidentally ended up heading over to Castleton in Rochdale instead.
In the light-hearted clip, she says: “This is just a reminder to read the small print when you want to do a spontaneous trip. Because Margarita and I thought we were going to the Peaks, and this is where we are…” while panning to the sight of some roadworks.
She continued: “We thought we were going to see gorgeous green hills. Nope.
“Anyways, come with us on our Castleton Manchester, not Peak District adventure.”
They visited Springfield Park, went to a pub to eat onion rings (with a random giant dog staring at them), erm… went to a charity shop, and looked at some houses.
Okay so not quite the Peak District paradise they were picturing.
One person commented: “Absolutely howling. Come all the way from America to end up in Rochdale” (Mackenzie stressed in her reply that she lives in Manchester and also, is Canadian).
Another said: “It’s the Springfield park for me”
Someone else suggested: “Rochdale should rename all of its areas to encourage more tourists. Hahah”
Dying to know if these girls ever made it to Castleton, Derbyshire.
Emily Sergeant -
17th November 2021 
