Dr Fauci once inspired a character from a best-selling romance novel who has an affair with a First Lady

Donald Trump isn't known for surrounding himself with the most intelligent people on the planet but somehow Dr. Anthony Fauci has become an unlikely hero of the pandemic.

The 79-year-old physician and immunologist is part of the White Houses' coronavirus task force team which is leading the United States' response to the crisis.

While we imagine that being surrounded by the likes of Trump and Mike Pence would make anyone look mildly intelligent but Fauci's often sensible and reassuring approach to the pandemic has seen him become something of a hero.

For instance, here is Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom sporting actual 'Fauci Gang' hoodies, which can be purchased from Pizza Slime, with part of the proceeds going to the CDC's emergency response fund to coronavirus.

If that wasn't enough it has now emerged that Fauci was the inspiration for a romantic novel published way back in 1991. Yes, this is apparently a real story.

The novel called Happy Endings was written by Sally Quinn, who at that point was a bestseller who had experienced success thanks to a string of romantic novels.

In a recent interview with The WashingtonianQuinn explained that a character in the book Michael Lanzer​, a married scientist working on a treatment for AIDS was inspired by a chance meeting with Fauci.

According to Quinn, the two met at a function in Washington DC where they were paired as dinner partners and she was soon swooning after the doctor.

I just fell in love with him. Usually those dinners, you make polite conversation, and that’s it. 

But we had this intense conversation, personal conversation. I thought, ‘Wow, this guy is amazing'.

In the novel, Fauci's character becomes the secret lover of a former fictional and widowed first lady named Sadie Grey, who was a character from her previous novel Regrets Only.

According to Quinn, Grey admired Lanzer's qualities as well as his sex appeal, which Fauci must have been exuding at the time she met him.

What kind of person would she be in love with? It would not be somebody from a great family or with a lot of money. But it would be somebody who was really brilliant, and compassionate, and kind, and decent, and honest. All of those things—and sexy. He just exuded charisma. All the things that she would have fallen in love with.

Although there are some similarities between Lanzer and Fauci, in that they are both scientists who work in the White House, Quinn's character is Orthodox Jewish, which Fauci is not. He is also said to possess a 'low, melodious, sexy, almost hypnotic voice' which were not entirely sure Fauci has but we are willing to be proven otherwise.

Some choice lines from Quinn's novel include:

You are like a tumour in my brain which is getting larger and larger each day.

and

Foxy…was not housebroken. And certainly not White Housebroken.

Yikes...

If you thought all that was a bit much, how about we tell you that a petition has been launched to have Fauci named as the 'sexiest man alive.'

So, if you are having any fantasies about Dr Fauci, you'll be assured that you aren't alone.