I have a confession to make: I am head over heels in love with Patrick Dempsey. Just not the one you’re thinking of. Yes, McDreamy is gorgeous, no one can deny the man that, but truth be told the geeky teenager version of Dempsey is my favorite version of the heartthrob. I was watching “Can’t Buy Me Love,” the 1987 classic where Dempsey’s character “rents” the coolest girl in school for a month to gain popularity. I admit it, I just bought it the other day and my next purchase will be 1989’s “Loverboy,” where Dempsey plays a pizza delivery guy turned prostitute (yes, prostitute), and I have to say he was McDreamy long before “Grey’s Anatomy” was even a thought in someone’s head.

Dempsey was a popular teen star and he was perfect in his awkward character roles. He had the same unruly hair he does now, but somehow as he grew up he went from geek to hunk. In the ’90s, Dempsey starred in many movies, including “With Honors” in 1994 and “Outbreak” in 1995. It wasn’t until 2000, however, that Dempsey really hit the scene in a significant supporting role and showed the world he wasn’t a little kid anymore. He starred alongside Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, and David Arquette in “Scream 3”. Then two years later he starred as the doting fianc√© of Reese Witherspoon in “Sweet Home Alabama.” His star factor and his hotness factor were only growing as Patrick Dempsey once again became a household name.

Then came “Grey’s Anatomy.” Though I don’t personally watch the show, I am grateful that I get to see the darling McDreamy on the cover of magazines almost weekly.

I don’t know how these things happen, how growing up can suddenly make you this amazingly attractive person in the eyes of people who thought you were once a geek, but it does. It happens all the time. What I do know for sure, however, is that Patrick Dempsey is one guy I’m glad is in the public eye because he’s not too bad to look at.