Dublin actor Aidan Turner will forever be remembered for THAT photo of him as Poldark character Ross, clutching a scythe and looking very ab-tastic indeed – at least in VIP Towers anyway.
But the producers of the BBC1 hit series, which averaged about 8 million viewers per episode, have claimed they had no idea the gorgeous actor’s torso would cause such a flurry of international interest.
Damien Timmer, one of the BBC drama’s executive producers, claims the team who cast the hunky lead actor was “pretty innocent” about the number of times Aidan took his shirt off, which has caused him to overtake Colin Firth’s Mr. Darcy as TV’s most talked about romantic lead.
“Ross does it in the book, he goes swimming, he washes himself clean,” Mr. Timmer stressed. “And he’s a farmer, and it’s very hot in Cornwall! Besides, we didn’t audition him with his clothes off!”
His comments came following a wave of Twitter fury on Sunday night, as the penultimate episode of the show apparently did not contain enough shirtless shots of The Hobbit star Aidan to satisfy his fans.
One angry viewer Tweeted: “Ross just kept his shirt on for a whole episode of Poldark. I suspect a BBC editor will be looking for a new job tomorrow.”
Another joked: “Aidan Turner kept his shirt on? Shocking twist in the final ep!”
The 31-year-old actor, who has been dating actress and model Sarah Greene for several years, recently spoke out about how surreal it was to become a sex symbol overnight.
“It was quite odd to walk into a newsagent and see myself holding a scythe with a peculiar smile on my face,” he admitted.
He added that despite the madness, he isn’t being mobbed as he walks around Dublin just yet.
“It’s fairly calm and relaxed. There’s no mania – not that I can see,” Aidan said.
