Yes people can be very attracted to those who are not conventionally, physically attractive. Attractiveness is driven by much more than physical appearance.
For instance, I remember this guy that I really didn’t think was a good looking man. If I was being blunt, I thought he was pretty ugly to look at. However, he was very, very confident, funny and had a lot of charisma. Gorgeous looking women would fall over themselves to go out with him. It was one of those ‘what the hell do they see in him situations?’. I think it was his confidence though. He was so self-assured he seemed to exude sex appeal. He was never without a tall, willowy, beautiful woman on his arm. He didn’t even treat them that well.
I was the sister of one of his close friends and so I was ‘out-of-bounds’ and I had also known him for as long as I can remember. So, I was never interested in him that way. He was like a brother more than a potential lover.