Secret Santa will hopefully be sacked off soon (Picture: Getty Images)

The dreaded Secret Santa tradition will soon become a thing of the past if Gen Z have their way.

As much as I love being merry and spreading Christmas cheer, one part of the festive season that truly makes me shudder other than mulled wine and Christmas pudding is Secret Santa. 

The thought of having to buy a gift for someone, who I may not even know and who might not even like the gift, while someone does the same for me, is a nightmare for someone who loves buying specific gifts for close friends and family based on what they like. The tea set they’ve been eyeing for months or something fancy from Sephora.

Although there are some ways to make this tradition a little more enjoyable by putting rules in place, such as a budget for the gift, it’s still something I hope to never ever have to do. 

And if a recent survey is anything to go by, it seems other Gen Z Britons feel the same way. Secret Santa is one of the well-known Christmas traditions that are on the way out.

The study involved a survey of 2,004 people by battery company Duracell to find out people’s festive fears.

It found that Gen Z’s 10th festive ‘ick’ was Secret Santa, while the first was getting someone the wrong gift, which, let’s face it, can totally happen when taking part in a random gift giving exercise like this one. 

Charlotte Mills, 24, from London, says that her hatred of Secret Santa began at university.

‘It’s just a pain having to organise it with there being so many people,’ she tells Metro.co.uk. ‘Admittedly, we only gave ourselves like a few days to sort it before we all went home for Christmas and no one set a budget and some people went all out if they could and bought perfumes but some of us tried to make it more casual, I think I bought the person a fidget spinners. It was a huge mess.’

However, Secret Santa’s demise could be a lot slower than some of us hope because there are people who love it, believe it or not.

Actress and content creator Savannah Gracey, 23, from London has made skits on TikTok about Secret Santa pet peeves and how people (like me) react when we’re forced to take part. 

‘I absolutely love Secret Santa,’ she tells Metro.co.uk excitedly.

‘I just love how it’ll be a group people and you might’ve not spoken to that person before, but it’s a random name that you pick out and you’ve got to think for a week-and-a-half about what they would like and what you should get them. I love that someone is doing the same for you. I love the randomness.’

‘I think some people don’t like it because some people will pick out a name and put it back in if they don’t like that person until they’ve got the right person. Especially at school that would happen and suddenly they would tell everyone who they had and everyone would know and sometimes someone would spend £15 on someone when the budget’s £5 and then you might feel awkward or some people are really disorganised and don’t really do presents and then they wake up that morning and buy chocolates.’

Secret Santa isn’t the only thing at risk of being killed off at Christmas like a main character on a soap opera. We also recently discovered that the iconic traditional Christmas dinner could face the chop.

Following the launch of Costa Coffee’s festive menu, the popular chain conducted a survey of 2,000 Brits and found that the younger generation is cheesed off with cheese boards, can’t stop moaning about mince pies and want to sack off the sprouts in favour of alternative dishes this year and beyond. 

Gen Z also has different preferences when it comes to Christmas drinks, with one-in-four wanting to sip on an iced coffee on Christmas day, instead of eggnog or Irish cream. 

Do you have a story to share?

Get in touch by emailing [email protected].

MORE : ‘I’m having spaghetti Bolognese’ — Why Gen Z are killing off Christmas dinners

MORE : Why boy has to have plate of sprouts instead of turkey for Christmas dinner

The worst Christmas tradition is on the way out.