Trudeau, whose butt went viral last week (gosh, it's strange times that we're living in), is the newest inductee into that achingly popular internet genre of 'politicians who were hot in their youth'.

Trudeau is perhaps the pollie who has inspired the most thirst among the people (including the time that both Ivanka Trump and the Duchess of Cambridge 'swooned' over him, and also the times that everybody went a bit too far).

And given that politics has the reputation of being "Hollywood for ugly people," is it little wonder that we can all get a little overexcited when a politician reveals themselves to have been rather comely in their youth?

The thing is, Trudeau was (perhaps unsurprisingly, have you seen the man now?) genuinely the kind of young man that his classmates would have written MySpace poems about.

They would have called and left embarrassingly long voicemail messages and pretended that they too were really into the Canadian constitution and Stephen King novels. In short, he was really hot.

Witness the fitness:

The discovery of the photos echoes the kinds of reactions that other pollies receive when the most flattering photo of themselves has been revealed. We had similar special feelings when it was revealed that former US Vice President and friendship bracelet maker Joe Biden was a rather dashing young man in his youth.

And the times we realised that Tim Kaine, Bernie Sanders and John McCain were also once legitimate babes.

And who could forget when the hashtag #hotAlbo trended in 2013 after writer Marieke Hardy tweeted a screengrab of a photo that Anthony Albanese had shared on his Facebook page of himself circa 1985, with his tousled mullet and the kind of eyes you want to tell all your secret dreams and passions to.

Hot Albo got a second run when Albanese shared a second moody black and white "throwback Thursday" snap to Facebook in 2015 that received thousands of likes.

So yes, there's something to the pollies that were hot in their youth genre. It's compelling because it speaks to idealism, to the idea that most of us are pretty hot when we're young and full of ideas and vigor and optimism. It's a moment in time before billable hours and grey suits and not being able to drink the way we used to because the hangovers are too bad.

Well, it's that and also there's nothing that will quite quench the internet's relentless thirst like an unconventional crush that combines both brains and biceps.