Eight 'guilty crushes' we’re happy to admit to

Line of Duty’s Superintendent Ted Hastings has been described as “a paunchy sexist with the emotional intelligence of a whelk”, but that hasn’t stopped him from also becoming “TV’s most unlikely sex symbol”.

While the BBC drama’s on a break, Hastings is still causing many fans to wrestle with their feminist conscience, due to the epic ‘guilty crush’ they’re harbouring.

But inspired by the outpouring of love for Hastings, Woman’s Hour listeners have flocked to fess up to their most guilty of crushes, from nice guys to Neanderthals…

Head of Line of Duty’s anti-corruption unit AC-12, Superintendent Ted Hastings – played by actor Adrian Dunbar - is a classic ‘unreconstructed male’.

“We shouldn’t love him,” says author and Hastings superfan Kathy Lette. “He probably thinks Germaine Greer is rhyming slang for beer, [and] sitting on the toilet is a leisure activity. It doesn’t fit with our feminist beliefs to love a man who’s so Neanderthal.”

So why’s he such a hit? “All women secretly think we can tame him,” says Kathy.

“I nurture an almost overpowering need to iron Ted Hastings' crisp white shirts,” one tweeter told us. “More of a yearning really.” Another added: “High integrity and a broad chest. Simples!”

Is it the bald head? The gruff voice? Ross Kemp, who found fame as EastEnders tough guy Grant Mitchell, has landed many guilty admirers since he first appeared in Albert Square. Some fans want to mother him, but that’s not what gets them all going. “It’s all that hard man attitude and you know he could sweep you off your feet and look after you,” one admirer told us, adding: “And those muscles.”

Grant rocks a similar vibe to fellow Walford resident Max Branning (below, played by Jake Wood). He’s topped Heat Magazine’s now legendary annual Weird Crush poll not once, but THREE YEARS IN A ROW.

Never mind wanting someone to look after THEM, for many Monty Don fans it’s someone to look after their garden that really appeals. The green-fingered Gardener’s World presenter ticks the “nice guy” box, and is also the “best dressed man on TV” according to one admirer – who’s not even sure she feels that guilty about it. Another reckons “everything is alright in the world when Monty is on TV”.

Brains win over brawn when it comes to fans of Newsnight and Dragons Den presenter Evan Davis. “I had a thing about Evan Davis for quite a while,” says one listener. “I really liked his economics reports on Newsnight. [It’s a ] Nerd Thing.” Whatever floats your boat.

Also scoring plenty of nerd points is Pointless host Richard Osman, but he’s also SUPER funny, as anyone who caught his World Cup of Biscuits will attest to (chocolate digestives smashed it). He too has form in the guilty crush league, having been voted British women's 'weirdest crush' back in 2011. "I'm about 50% honoured and 50% embarrassed,” Osman said at the time.

“The epitome of a true gentleman” according to one admirer, but some might argue male supermodel David Gandy is too conventionally fanciable to appear here. However it seems there’s a certain level of guilt associated with being so easily won over by a chiselled face and “great abs”. He also does lots of charity work, and is an ambassador for Battersea Dogs home, just in case that helps.

It’s not Kevin Spacey (sorry Kevin) but his House of Cards character Frank Underwood that gets some hot under the collar, “even though he’s a corrupt politician and murderer”. Well quite. Apparently “it’s the Shakespearean asides direct to camera” that get them.

The Sherlock actor is the subject of so many guilty crushes he spawned a whole new addition to the English language – ‘the Cumberbitch’. Debate still rages as to whether such a title “sets back feminism” – a quote from Cumberbatch himself, who wonders if fans wouldn’t like to find a more empowering name? But most of them are too busy watching Sherlock or writing stories about him and co-star Martin Freeman to care.

Other popular guilty crush confessions include James Corden, John Torode, Idris Elba, Maxine Peake, Paul Hollywood and Bill Nighy (although no one felt that guilty).

Special mentions for Robert Peston, Jeremy Paxman, Peter Capaldi, Michael Heseltine (it’s the hair), Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney (they weren’t sure why), Nigel Havers, Justin Trudeau, Tom Hollander, George Osbourne, Omar Sharif, Jacob Rees Mogg, Kevin McCloud, Richard Hammond, James May and Jeremy Clarkson formerly of Top Gear fame, Lembit Opik and Ashes to Ashes character Gene Hunt, “despite his 70’s attitudes to EVERYTHING”.

Listen back to Adrian Dunbar’s full Woman's Hour interview, or catch the programme live on BBC Radio 4 at 10:00 every weekday or 16:00 on Saturdays. You can also listen later online or download the podcast in your favourite podcast app.