COLIN FIRTH - FIRTH AMUSED BY SEX SYMBOL STATUS

British screen hunk COLIN FIRTH is still baffled so many women found his PRIDE AND PREJUDICE lake-plunge so sexy, nearly ten years after starring in the TV series.

The BRIDGET JONES star leapt to international fame as aloof aristocrat MR DARCY in the 1995 BBC adaptation of JANE AUSTEN's classic novel, and won over an army of female admirers with his famous aquatic scene.

Firth says, "I know that people did go mad and thought I was some kind of sex symbol, especially when I came out of the lake, but I'd never thought of myself as sexy. I still find it hard to believe.

"I thought it was a joke really. I still find myself wondering why anybody would find me sexy."