It was the casting decision that caused an international storm: in the role of Christian Grey, Jamie Dornan – known for his trademark facial hair – would appear clean-shaved.
"Jamie Dornan without a beard is like a cupcake without frosting," one berate individual wrote on Twitter a year ago when the controversial announcement was first made.
Another chipped in with: "If I was Anastasia Steele and Jamie Dornan kept his beard and Irish accent, Fifty Shades would probably be a lot better."
Rather predictably, here at SHEmazing! Towers we definitely covet the 33-year-old Co Down man's sexy stubble.
But it has come to our attention that the wider public isn't entirely in agreement.
Yes, a brand new survey has now revealed that the likes of Prince Harry, David Beckham, Ben Affleck and Brad Pitt have ALL been deemed to have better beards than Jamie.
In a survey of 1,000 people carried out by the popular Crown Clinic in Manchester (the same clinic favoured by the likes of Calum Best and Dr Christian from Embarrassing Bodies) the ginger whiskers of royal hottie Prince Harry were deemed the world's most lovely.
David Beckham and George Clooney slot in at numbers two and three respectively, while Ben Affleck makes number four.
At the other end of the scale, Jake Gyllenhaal is ranked ninth, while our Jamie rounds up the Top 10.
Interestingly however, women aren't always big fans of facial fuzz: 62 percent say they prefer their lads to be clean-shaven.
Still, growing numbers of men are enhancing their look with either beard or sideburn transplants. Indeed, Crown Clinic says its bookings have jumped by a quarter in the last three years alone.
And surgeon Asim Shahmalak reckons that Prince Harry (who thankfully says he'll be on the market for a while yet) is the facial hair trend-setter of the moment.
The medic revealed: "The reaction to Prince Harry's beard has been universally positive. While he looks great with his ginger fuzz, the sad fact is almost half of men cannot grow a full beard.
"There are gaps in their beard or sideburns and the end result is patchy and unattractive.
"We can fill in those gaps to make sure any man can get a full beard like Harry."
And frankly, we have no problem with more men being rather more princely… or better still, more like Jamie himself. In the meantime, roll on Movember!
Top 10 celebrity beards, as revealed by Crown Clinic:
- Prince Harry
- David Beckham
- George Clooney
- Ben Affleck
- Ryan Gosling
- Hugh Jackman
- Alasdhair Willis
- Brad Pitt
- Jake Gyllenhaal
- Jamie Dornan
