Controversial Love Actually scene was originally planned to be even weirder and was only stopped by one thing

The most famous - and controversial - scene in Love Actually wasn’t even the weirdest plan that the writers had for it, believe it or not.

Thankfully the scene, and yes, you know which one I mean, was just one or two people away from happening in its weirder form.

If you haven’t seen it, or somehow have managed to avoid the internet discourse over it in the last 21 years, the scene in question involves Keira Knightley, Andrew Lincoln, a bunch of signs, and a brief appearance from Chiwetel Ejiofor.

The scene from the Christmas romcom features Lincoln’s Mark declaring his love for Knightley’s Juliet.

This happens via signs in order to be covert, due to the fact she is recently married to Mark’s best friend Peter (played by Ejiofor).

Here’s the scene if you’ve somehow missed or forgot it:

While at the time it was presented as cute and wholesome, over the years, people have pointed out that in actual fact, it is just a bit strange.

That is added to by the fact that, at the time of the film, Knightley was 17, with Ejiofor being 26, and Lincoln being 30.

The Pride and Prejudice star even said in an interview last month that it was ‘quite creepy’.

Despite also admitting he finds the scene 'a bit weird', the film’s creator Richard Curtis, however, has admitted we almost got a different version of the scene and if you ask me, all the other options were even weirder.

Discussing creating the scene with Netflix ahead of the release of his new Christmas film That Christmas, he said: “I was in an office, and there were about four people working there, and I said, ‘what I’m going to do today is think of four ideas and then put them to the vote’.

Richard Curtis wrote and directed Love Actually (Alberto E. Rodriguez via Getty Images)

“I think one of them was going to be an aeroplane with one of those [banners] after it. One of them was going to be him filling the mews with flowers.

“I remember the sign one, which is really stolen from a Bob Dylan video… and I went out and said to the four people working in the office: ‘If you were being flirted with, which of these would you prefer?’.

“They definitely picked the cards. So, it was a community decision.”

If you thought the whole fake carollers and signs was weird, an airplane love confession banner to your best friend’s 18-year-old wife at a whole 30-years-of-age is certainly… a choice.

Weird as it may be, I’m now thankful that the sign scene is all we got.

Knightley also discussed the scene with LA Times, saying that she did remember the 'slightly stalkerish aspect of it'.

Knightley was only 17 at the time (Universal)

She said: "My memory is of [director] Richard [Curtis], who is now a very dear friend, of me doing the scene, and him going, “No, you’re looking at [Lincoln] like he’s creepy,” and I’m like [in a dramatic whisper], “But it is quite creepy.”

"And then having to redo it to fix my face to make him seem not creepy."

She added: "I mean, there was a creep factor at the time, right? Also, I knew I was 17. It only seems like a few years ago that everybody else realized I was 17."