Deborah Meaden, Gordon Ramsay and David Mitchell have emerged as Britain's biggest (secret) sex symbols. A study of 2,000 people revealed the celebrity crushes that are kept under wraps, with business dragon Deborah the most secretly lusted-after woman in the country.
While power and a strong personality have its pull, the fiery Gordon Ramsay proved the man most women would like to cook up a storm with.
The research into people we fancy without really knowing why showed funny man James Corden tickles many women in the right place - he featured second in the list of most-fancied celebs.
Many women would opt for a private peep show with David Mitchell- the actor finished as the third most secretly desired man in Britain.
The study, which was conducted by iPhone app Celebalike, which shows people the celebrity they resemble most, found the controversial Piers Morgan in 4th for the men.
A Celebalike spokesman commented:
"We're flooded with images of people that conform to traditional 'Hollywood' notions of beauty, but it isn't always about looks.
"The results show many Brits have a secret celebrity crush that they would be less keen to voice or feel others wouldn't agree with them about.
"That shows that there's more to attraction and it seems a strong personality or authority plays a part, with Deborah Meaden and Gordon Ramsay proving popular."
While the likes of Angelina Jolie and Cheryl Cole may be hailed for their mainstream beauty, the country's men listed Dawn French, Princess Beatrice and Fern Britton among the people they harbour a secret soft spot for.
The Celebalike app works using a complex algorithm through a computer program that performs high-performance face identification and facial feature recognition.
It means men may be able to find their own Deborah Meaden - the dragon has been matched nearly 80,000 times since the app launched.
While, according to the app results, there are also 73,527 James Corden look-alikes out there and 24,444 Piers Morgan doppelgangers.
Three quarters of Brits admit that they are attracted to a celebrity that wouldn't really be classed as good-looking in the traditional sense, while six in ten people have a crush on a celebrity that they think other people wouldn't be able to understand.
In fact, a quarter of Brits have been attracted to a celebrity without really knowing what it is about them that they like so much.
The Celebalike spokesman added:
"Of course the Brads and Angelinas of this world are always going to be held up as sex symbols, but many people have a soft spot for people who don't conform to the traditional stereotypes.
"It's reassuring to see that we aren't always consumed by the perfect images of celebrity and that those people that are a bit more 'real' are still able to win our hearts.
"Unfortunately for most of us, we can't emulate the standard of beauty shown to us in the media, but the celebrities on this list are a lot more down to earth in their appearance, and that's reflected by the number of Celebalike matches people like Deborah Meaden have."
TOP 10 STRANGE CELEBRITY CRUSHES
1. Deborah Meaden
2. Dawn French
3. Princess Beatrice
4. Fern Britton
5. Natalie Cassidy
6. Anne Robinson
7. Delia Smith
8. Anne Widdecombe
9. Camilla Parker Bowles
10. Susan Boyle
1. Gordon Ramsay
2. James Corden
3. David Mitchell
4. Piers Morgan
5. Eddie Izzard
6. James May
7. Rupert Grint
8. Chris Moyles
9. Boris Johnson
10. Justin Lee Collins
