Andrew Scott thinks it is "cool" being nicknamed the "hot priest" following his role in 'Fleabag'.

Andrew Scott

Andrew Scott

The 42-year-old actor played hunky character The Priest during the second series of Phoebe Waller-Bridge's comedy-drama, and the star was shocked by the reaction to his character.

He told Vulture: "It's better than a lot of things you could be accused of. So yeah, it's great, it's cool. The reaction to the priest has been unbelievable.

"I think it's more about the character itself. I think the dog collar probably does something to people that's more privy to that than to me."

And Andrew has recalled how he first met Phoebe when they did a play 10 years ago, and they met up again last summer to discuss 'Fleabag'.

He added: "We knew each other from before. We did a play together about 10 years ago.

"So we met up last summer, and she was talking about this character that she had in her head, of a priest, and how they want to sort of establish this sort of extraordinary relationship.

"We talked a lot about love and loss and how it's represented onscreen, as well as religion and what place religion takes in people of our generation's lives.

"We were kind of looking to try and create something where there could be a match for the character in Fleabag, and we knew it was going to be a sort of a flawed character and somebody who is good at his job and, like, a real proper human being."

The hit BBC show - which also stars the likes of Olivia Colman, Hugh Skinner, Sian Clifford and Jenny Rainsford - tells the story how Phoebe's titular character is struggling to live her life in London following a tragedy.