Chocolate lover sparks fury after revealing they shut the doors of their advent calendar after finding their daily treat – but how do YOU eat yours?

More than 16 million advent calendars are being opened in homes up and down the UK in the countdown to Christmas.

Whether your calendar of choice contains chocolate, beauty products or even booze, everyone will have a preferred technique when it comes to opening its doors.

When an anonymous user posed what seemed like a simple question on the r/AskUK Reddit page, a heated debate erupted in the comments over advent calendar etiquette.

The original poster, who was subsequently branded a ‘monster’, said they had argued with their partner that morning ‘about what you do once you’ve opened the numbered door each day’.

They wrote: ‘I’ve always shut them so it doesn’t ruin the picture and it looks nice. But my partner said that was weird!’ 

The 29-year-old asked Reddit: ‘So what do you do? Leave it open, shut it or rip it off?’

Hundreds of people took to the comments to voice their opinion on the great advent calendar debacle.

‘I’m with you,’ one user wrote. ‘I want the picture to look nice so I close them! My husband will leave his open.’

Another replied: ‘I leave mine open and my wife closes her. And after the “debate” last year, we will not be mentioning it this year.’

‘I carefully shut them,’ a third user added. ‘I’m not an animal’. 

Other commenters said that they were firmly in the open door camp.

Explaining their logic behind keeping the doors open, a Reddit user wrote: ‘Before the age of the chocolate-filled advent calendars, the windows opened to show pictures behind, typically nativity-related.

‘Of course the windows had to be left open, so that everyone could see all the pretty pictures.’

Adding their own reasoning, someone else wrote: ‘Leave them open so you can see day by day how much closer you’re getting closer to Christmas.

‘Perhaps more importantly, it is easier to find the next day’s door by narrowing down the remaining selection.’

Another user agreed and crudely said: ‘Open because I’m not a f***ing psychopath’.

But some commenters threw a spanner in the works by insisting that the ‘only sensible answer’ is to ‘rip the doors off’.

Many commenters were left horrified by this suggestion, with one replying: ‘This is my dog’s way’.

Another user said: ‘My wife rips them off. I’m considering a divorce’. 

As the debate heated up, one commenter tried to keep the peace by saying: ‘Leaving it open or closed are both fine’.

Although the same person could not forgive those that teared the doors off entirely, writing: ‘Ripping it off is heathen behaviour.’

A more diplomatic user suggested that a ‘smart compromise’ would be to leave the current day open ‘for tracking’ and closing the others to keep the picture in tact.

This is not the first advent calendar controversy to strike this holiday season. 

Owners of Tony Chocolonely’s Big Countdown Calendar – which sells for £14.99 – were left gutted when they went to open door number 10 only to find that there was no chocolate inside. 

Instead there was a QR code which linked to their website with a message about cocoa farmers being treated poorly, reading: ‘Not much to find in there, huh? Bummer!’

Furious customers have vowed never to buy the calendar again, while parents have complained that their children had been left in tears.  

Dutch company Tony’s stated that the calendar was ‘unequally divided because the chocolate industry is unequally divided’ – but it has come under fire for using an advent calendar for a political stunt. 

The confectionery company previously apologised for using the same tactic in 2021 and for causing ‘confusion and disappointment’, but has brought it back once more. 

This year however, Tony’s said that customers were given two treats in the number nine door to make up for it and also received 25 chocolates behind 24 doors in total. 

It sparked heated backlash on social media, as many were left wishing they’d opted for a cheaper Cadburys calendar instead. 

They wrote: ‘That’s why I’ve got a Cadbury one. i want daily chocolate, not preaching to’;