Did the doctor slap your mum - not you - when you were born? Chances are, you're more likely to end up happily married than a pretty boy is. Steve Hill explains why there's hope.
Things are apparently starting to look up for those of us who have not been blessed with the heart-stopping features of a George Clooney or a Brad Pitt.
According to the results of a recent survey carried out in the United States, happier marriages appear to result when attractive women hitch up with uglier men.
Pretty boys apparently offer less support to their wives, possibly because they're spending so much time in front of the mirror preening and trying to look good.
And the same poll suggests that men who see themselves as being better looking than their wives are more likely to be unhappy. And unhappiness can lead to all kinds of trouble, including straying from the garden path.
It's all due apparently to the genes, as handsome men have more short-term mating opportunities, which could lead them to feel less satisfied and therefore less committed to marriage, compared to physically unattractive males who are more likely to cherish and hold on to what they have.
It's actually quite easy to look around and see that researchers at the University of Tennessee are on to something here.
Welsh actor Rhys Ifans, who sprang to stardom for his role as Hugh Grant's flatmate in the box office hit Notting Hill, certainly appears to fit the bill.
Ifans is a talented comic actor and, by all accounts, a decent all-round sort of chap, the kind of fella you can easily imagine bumping into at your local hostelry before sharing a cordial glass or two of something cold over a chat about the latest round of soccer scores.
Perhaps you could even enjoy a laugh discussing the famous underwear scene in his best-known movie.
But, let's be brutally honest, he's not the dreamboat you would naturally pair with someone as glamorous as paparazzi favourite Sienna Miller who was on his arm until recently. One columnist unkindly referred to Ifans as having 'a face like a bag of spanners', another that he resembled a scarecrow.
It does not seem to be that long ago that Miller was stepping out with fellow actor and ladies' favourite Jude Law with the tabloids and celebrity magazines battling to grab pictures of the world's most beautiful couple.
So what went wrong? Ah yes, Law was dispatched following much soul-searching after apparently being caught cheating by Miller with the family's nanny. What was that the researchers were saying about good looking guys?
In total, the team from the University of Tennessee spent time with 82 newly-wed couples who answered questions about the quality of their marriage and facial attractiveness.
And their most direct conclusion was that ugly men are a much better bet than hitching your wagon to the Colin Farrells and Ashton Kutchers of this world.
Professor Jim McNulty said: "Men who were more attractive than their partner had a tendency to offer less emotional and practical support to their wives.
"But men who were less attractive than their wives demonstrated a tendency to be more likely to offer support. Evolutionary perspectives can help explain why men's attractiveness appeared to be more detrimental than beneficial to marriage.
"Attractive men have available to them more short-term mating opportunities. This may make them less satisfied and less committed to the marital relationship."
Miller should actually be applauded for recognising that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and, yes, only skin deep.
And she also ignored some less-than-flattering media coverage in the early days of the courtship, with certain excitable newspapers incredulous (and possibly jealous?) at her cavorting with someone so aesthetically unpleasing.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, meanwhile, is another unglamorous man who went a step further by marrying supermodel Carla Bruni.
One moment Sarkozy seemed to have the troubles of the world on his shoulders... marriage breaking up, embarrassing headlines about his 'love handles' being airbrushed out of magazine pictures by a sympathetic and friendly editor.
The next... well, he was striding out with an utterly gorgeous woman who would comfortably make many 'top 10' lists that are drawn up in moments of idle fancy.
Sarkozy's an okay looking chap but, I'm sure most people would agree, not someone you would naturally pair with such a glamorous younger woman.
But he clearly has the 'X' factor tucked up his sleeve to complement a formidable intellect and the charming personality which won over plenty of sceptical Brits during a state visit earlier this year.
Even harder to work out is what Kate Moss saw for all those years in shambolic Pete Doherty whose addiction problems are well-documented, and which finally earned him a spell at Her Majesty's pleasure earlier this year.
Moss, one imagines, could have the pick of just about any eligible man on the planet and famously dated pin-ups such as Johnny Depp as well as current James Bond Daniel Craig.
Yet, for the longest time she still chose to be with a clichéd bad boy of rock who often looked as if he had been dragged through the proverbial hedge backwards.
It probably confuses the argument to bring up the liaison between Anna Nicole Smith and J Howard Marshall, and throw the subject of gazillion dollar bank accounts into the mix.
And it could be seen as unhelpful to point out that some of the famous 'odd couples' listed right actually spent less time together in wedded bliss than being caught in an absolute horror of a traffic jam on theEmirates Road.
But the overwhelmingly good news is clearly that even if you were last in line when good looks were being handed out, and are maybe even short of a bit of cash, personality and being real and true can still unlock the heart of a beautiful woman.
Why is she really going out with him?
- Ugly men are not self-obsessed whereas blokes who are handsome, wealthy and seem too good to be true ... often are.
- They try harder to be a good partner because they know how lucky they are to be with such a beautiful woman.
- Guys with a different look are intriguing on the inside too.
- And are less likely to do anything to mess things up.
- Their personalities make up for shortcomings in the looks department.
- They're good listeners and are more comfortable letting women be real.
