Aidan Turner may now be one of TV’s hottest pin-ups, thanks to his role as Captain Ross Poldark in the hit BBC drama, but the Irish actor is still struggling to understand his sex symbol status. Despite making viewers swoon with his shirtless antics, Turner says he finds the hysteria surrounding his sexy character all ‘very strange’.

Aidan TurnerAidan Turner stars as Captain Ross Poldark in the BBC period drama.

“Well, I still don't see myself as a sex symbol. Nothing has changed for me in that regard,” Turner told the Daily Mail's Weekend magazine. "There were parts of the show where people could relate to that idea I suppose, but I never felt like a sex symbol.”

“I wasn't thinking 'Here's me being a sex symbol' when Poldark went into the sea for a swim.” When asked if he changed his mind once the series aired, Turner said: "No. I couldn't understand why people thought either me or Ross was a sex symbol.”

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“None of it made any sense to me so I just didn't bother with it. When you're in the eye of the storm it just feels like a natural progression, I don't feel this stratospheric rise or anything.”

"I come across sweet people in the street now who ask for a photograph, but I can't stop other people just taking them. You have to get on with it.” For most viewers, Turner is forever engrained in their minds shirtless while holding a scythe, an image which the actor also couldn't get his head around.

"And then there was that picture of me holding that scythe topless in the show that seemed to go round for quite a while,” Turner added. "That was very strange, although it didn't take attention away from the show so I was fine with it.”

“And at least because there was a 'Ross gets his top off' scene every couple of weeks, it stopped me drinking beer and eating pasties.” Turner is currently filming the second series of the BBC drama, and has previously said he expects the critics to have their ‘knives out’ for it.

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“Knives can be out for a second series. Especially when we got so much support for the first series and everybody was just overwhelmingly positive,” Turner told the Radio Times last month.

“So next year, regardless of the quality of the show, people will tend to go: ‘Let’s knock you down a peg or two.’ And that’s understandable. But the scripts are strong and the performances are all there, so we have every confidence that we’re going to produce something great,” the actor added.