At a time when the cost of living is at the forefront of minds, escapism can be powerful, too. “Watching these shows can momentarily take us away from our day-to-day worries,” Touroni adds. “It’s an opportunity to take our minds off what we’re struggling with and imagine what life might be like if money was not an issue.”

The psychological theory of social comparison, which explores how people evaluate their own achievements, opinions, values and status by comparing themselves to others, could account for our love of these shows, too. If we come to the conclusion that someone is better than us – whether that’s in terms of wealth or moral standing – this is known as upward social comparison; its opposite, concluding that you are in fact the superior person, is downward social comparison (which could account for some of your embarrassing ‘hate watching’ tendencies).

You might expect watching shows about the super-rich to involve more upward comparison than down – after all, these characters seem to have everything (and you certainly wouldn’t catch them wondering when to put the heating on). And sometimes, it does. Seeing all the trappings and wealth and luxury on screen can prompt a longing to have some of those opportunities, says Dr James Newman, chartered psychologist and psychology academic at Sheffield Hallam University. “It comes out of a natural human aspiration to want to be more comfortable and provide more for ourselves, and following the lives [of these characters] gives us a flavour of that.”

From The White Lotus to Succession: why we can’t look away from the uber-rich on TV