How Fifty Shades of Grey’s fantasy man would look like

London - An academic has used descriptions and image-generating software to create the so-called first picture of the protagonist, Christian Grey, of EL James’s erotic novel ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’.

Using the e-fit software employed in police investigations they strived to put a face to the mysterious billionaire bondage fanatic character at the centre of millions of women’s fantasies.

They created the black-and-white image - which shows a man with tousled hair and high cheekbones - based on descriptions of how women imagined him to be.

The handsome picture was the brainchild of University of Central Lancashire’s (UCLan) Dr Faye Skelton, who said that the man in the image had drawn comparisons with famous actors and sports stars.

She revealed that she took the descriptions from 12 female readers’ to create the striking image.

Women thought that Grey might have ‘Greys Anatomy’ star Patrick Dempsey’s eyes, while Brad Pitt’s famous chiselled jawline was used to help create the fantasy Christian Grey’s face.

“While we don’t want to intrude on anyone’s fantasies, based on a small sample of women, this is the image of Christian Grey they have in their heads when reading the novels,” the Daily Mail quoted Dr Skelton as saying.

“Personally, I think he’s quite handsome, although everyone’s interpretation will be different. It was just a bit of fun, but it does show the quality of image we can now generate.

“Most of the descriptions drew comparisons with famous film stars, which may help Hollywood moguls when the film remake comes to casting,” she said.

One fan, Laura Stokes, 24, from Perry Barr, Birmingham, said: “I think it’s better if it’s left to women’s imaginations rather than a computer - but it still pretty clever.

“It’s not the image I have of him in my head, but he’s very good looking nonetheless,” Stokes said.

The e-fit, the result of a combination of 12 famous faces, looked quite familiar, drawing comparisons with former England rugby captain Jonny Wilkinson, and fellow rugby playing peer and ex-partner of Charlotte Church, Gavin Henson.

Others felt that the e-fit bore more than a passing resemblance to Eddie Redmayne, thanks to the full lips, and Mark Wright of TOWIE for his chiselled jaw and classic good looks.

Author EL James’ first book in the erotic trilogy has sold ten million copies world-wide becoming the fastest-selling novel of all time - outselling Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code and even JK Rowling’s Harry Potter books.