Funny thing about Gene - while I don't find him handsome or appealing in the slightest and his popularity with female viewers puzzles the hell out of me (there's no account for taste, but what show are they watching?)... I have no difficulty in believing Alex (or for that matter, Sam, though I never slashed them) would find him horribly attractive when he's right there on their faces making their (imaginary, delusional, fantasy) lives a living hell just by being his contradictory, infuriating self. Something about their oposing personalities sparking, but mostly the fact that Gene just radiates charisma - he seems unstoppable and irresistible in a way that defies political correctness.