I’m sure you’ve seen the Hot Priest gifs. 

The internet has been awash with sexy priest gifs for the last few months ever since Phoebe Waller-Bridge introduced Fleabag fans to Andrew Scott’s quite literally holier-than-thou character.

Sadly, the hype appears to have died down with Hot Priest (Scott) moving on to other things in the TV adaptation of His Dark Materials.

But all is not lost. Hot Priest might be over but the good news is that the internet has already discovered a new character equally worthy of our attention. 

Introducing: Hot Journalist. 

In episode four of the new season of The Crown, which dropped on Netflix on Sunday, Philip and Elizabeth invite a documentary team into their lives. The documentary was quite successful in real life but, on the show, it is painted as a calculated scheme by Philip to justify an increase in the royal family’s budget, which has been frozen for the past 15 years.

John Armstrong, a Guardian reporter in New York on business, watches Philip’s televised interview before firing off a pitch to his editor. Back in the UK, Armstrong – played by Colin Morgan, who you might recognise from BBC’s The Fall – pens a scathing review about the documentary. 

Philip and Elizabeth, in damage control, then invite him to interview Princess Anne. While at the palace, he ends up interviewing Philip’s mother Alice, who reveals she has schizophrenia. However, when Morgan writes his article, he chooses to focus instead on her strengths and hardships. 

Herein lies Hot Journalist’s real appeal. Like Hot Priest before him, our thirst goes beyond his boyish good looks. As Waller-Bridge pointed out in SNL, Hot Priest’s real appeal is because he “listens”. So too with Morgan. It’s the way he treats Alice, listening to her story and taking the time to tell her story in a thoughtful way, which has us weak at the knees.

Which has us wondering, is Hot Journalist a real person? According to The Times, while Philip’s documentary did get a newspaper write-up, it was a positive one. More importantly, a journalist called John Armstrong didn’t actually exist but is an amalgam of royal journalists invented for The Crown. 

Sadly too, his screen-time is short and sweet, as he only appears once this season. Luckily though, it’s enough to give us what we’ve really been missing since Hot Priest: sex appeal. 

Plus, think of the gifs! We can’t wait for the Hot Journalist gifs.

Main Image: Netflix (edited)

Image: BBC