Well, here you go. As foretold by Gossip Cop, Blake Shelton has been named People Magazine’s 2017 Sexiest Man Alive. The cover is pretty good, if you’re into him. I like that they included at least one of his tattoos. You can see People’s full SMA package here. You can also see the slideshow here of the other sexiest men of 2017, which includes: the ‘This is Us’ dudes, Zac Efron (??), Kumail Nanjiani, 50 Cent, Luis Fonsi, Ben Platt, Armie Hammer (I’m into that) and Ryan Gosling. No Chadwick Boseman or Michael Bae Jordan or Idris Elba. No Juan Martin del Potro or even Roger Federer!! Boo. Here are some highlights from Blake’s SMA interview:
On being chosen for SMA: “That y’all must be running out of people. Like, Wow, we’re down to somebody who is somewhat symmetrical.”
Gwen Stefani convinced him to go for it: “She goes, ‘Listen to me, you’re going to regret this for the rest of your life if you don’t take this gift and just live in the moment.”
Why he’s really accepting the honor: “I can’t wait to shove this up Adam’s ass. As proud as I am and honored that you guys asked me, that’s really the only thing I care about.”
His awkward phase: “I think to describe myself as a child, one word comes to mind. And that’s fat. People say I haven’t changed since before I made it. And I’m still fat today. That’s proof!”
He likes junk food & fast food: “It could be 2 o’clock in the afternoon before I eat and then I realize I’m starving, so then it’s a bag of Cheetos. And there’s a Sonic in town, they got jalapeno poppers. And then I’m not hungry again until 10 o’clock, well what’s in there? Fishsticks. And like a big pickle, those pickles that come in its own package with juice? It is really bad.”He’ll be enjoying this for the rest of his life: “It’s going to be used in every conversation, whether it’s at The Voice, or at the feed in Tishomingo, Oklahoma, or in a conversation with a doctor. When [people] would say to Adam, ‘Mr. Sexy,’ you’d always see him go, ‘Well, awwww…’ If you say that to me, it’s going to be, ‘You’re damn right, I’m Mr. Sexy! I’ve been ugly my whole life, if I can be sexy for a year, I’m taking it. I’m taking it.”
Personally, I think this is the way to handle it – Blake isn’t taking it too seriously, but he’s having fun with it. It’s a stupid honor for most men and if they had given it to a “serious” actor, the actor would have felt awkward trying to shill for their own sexiness. As I said yesterday, I’m not buying what Blake is selling – I’m not his target audience in the least – but I understand why People Mag chose him. And there are probably millions of American women (and some men) who genuinely think he’s sexy. Excuse me while I Google photos of “shirtless Juan Martin del Potro” and “shirtless Michael B. Jordan.”
Cover courtesy of People, additional photo courtesy of Getty.
People mostly uses americans, hence no real talent included. Yeah talking about Elba..
Also, I’m white and not Amercian. But this cover screams whitewashing
I really hope Elba wouldn’t lower himself to this, particularly in a year where he has a film in Oscar contention. With the star system dead agreeing to this title has little advantage (and yes they absolutely have to agree). Serious actors are turning down the cover these days (a photo on the list is not so bad) Remember when Hemsworth was named? Yeah, me neither. It did nothing for him and outside of Thor he was a flop.
Yes. I have heard that Gosling has turned it down.
lol, clooney, depp and pitt each happily accepted this “honor” twice.
Well I don’t even care where he’s from, the fact that he’s a Trump supporter makes him one of the grossest people alive, not the sexiest, not by a long shot.
Why does Gwen care about this dumb title? Oh Gwen. Gwen.
Aaaa. That would explain a lot. Doesn’t she has an album coming out at Christmas? This may be part of the package/deal between Gwen’s PR and People. Because there is no way that you just sit there thinking about sexiest men and come up with Blake. And I am sure Gwen DOES care about this stuff. She will be talking about this all day long when promoting her album.
And yes, probably Blake is right. They are running out of people who will participate in this sharade. There will be even less of them next year after People pulled this stunt with Blake.
SM, I agree!
Don’t they always have a “supportive partner” quote? There it is.
If it’s true that she pitched it this way, I can see it.
But mostly I think it’s part of the prefab package.
Neewp. NOPE NOPE. JASON MAMOA…YUP.
Preach on, sister!
I am with you! Jason Momoa is so dreamy *sigh*
Anyway, even though Blake is trying to play this off as all cutesy and not very serious his publicists still had to campaign for it so this still sounds disingenuous and therefore annoying to me.
Ewwww. I don’t think Blake is sexy at all, but I can see the appeal of the Southern man drawl and smile. I don’t get the Jason thing at all. Nothing, vacant. But, I would put Norman Reedus on the cover and I know everyone, except for Daryl lovers on Walking Dead would say he’s gross. Lol…..beauty is in the eyes of the beholder for sure.
I think Momoa would have been a universally praised choice. And he has a movie coming out, so I think it would help with promotion.
Everyone knows that whoever wants the PR push and is willing to fork over the most amount of cash, gets the Most Beautiful title & the cover. I feel like People doesn’t realize people know this and laugh at them. Last year or the year before I believe Julia Roberts got it when one of her movies was coming out. Her being on the cover would have made sense…in the year 2000.
People is an artifact of the past, and it acts like that when it chooses covers like this. I wonder if they’ll ever become exclusively digital – I have a hard time believing anyone pays for this magazine. That’s like paying for porn in 2017.
I can’t.
Dude looks like a ferret.
Lol. Agreed. I think his interview was kinda funny but it doesn’t in any way compensate for his utter lack of sexiness. Ick.
Eeeew puke
LMAO. He’s whitey mcwhite-erson dipped in vanilla with a sunburned neck. He always looks like he needs a shower. #GiantSweatyBaby
Well said, lol. I’m glad I haven’t eaten yet!
I laughed. But hey at least it’s not Justin Timberlake.
Honestly he’s the perfect People SMA. People’s core audience is white, middle-aged, bored housewives who believe “50 Shades” is the height of erotica, who believe Jennifer Garner didn’t know Affleck was cheating on her constantly, and still believe John Travolta, well, anyway….seriously though he’s exactly the right pick, no point in complaining.
Wow. You just bashed an entire age-group of women. Thanks.
Not at all. There are plenty of white, middle aged, bored housewives with fantastic taste. But if they meet every point on my list?…well I wouldn’t say I’m “bashing” but making fun of? Yeah a bit, I confess.
IKR? It hit me right in the miniVan too.
I’m going to get defensive, and it’s not on you Mia as much as someone like Elaine Liu who made the mini van majority title. I’m a white suburban stay at home mom. A lot of my friends are also (I also have friends who are black and latina stay at home moms too). Non of us fit that mold. A lot of us are former teachers who found day care super expensive and left the work force to watch our kids. None of us voted Trump, all of us contact our reps and most of us are up on our celeb gossip. We know People is where publicists go, we know who’s in the closet and who has a beard. Even if some of us drive mini vans. None of us find Blake Shelton sexy. This generalization is just so dumb to me. None of us find 50 shades of Gray well written, let alone sexy. A lot of the women I know who are drooling over Blake Shelton or love 50 shades are A) working women who may or may not be moms or B) older women. Sorry but Lainey doesn’t really know what she’s talking about and loves to make these generalizations about women she deems below her. The people crowd is really much more of an older crowd who still buys and reads magazines. No offence to those ladies.
I’m a college-educated working mom, 44, pretty darn liberal, so white I glow under black light. My mother is in her 70s, unfortunately a Fox News believer, college-educated lady who stayed at home to raise her kids. We’re both lifelong Southerners. Neither of us follow modern country or watch the Voice. Neither of us find Blake all that attractive. We chip in on, share and love our subscription to People and have for years. Mom gets it first, and then I get it. I would say that she fits the core demographic, but if she weren’t ordering the subscription I would. It’s a guilty pleasure. She’s read it since the first issue with Mia Farrow on the cover, so I grew up with it.
Come on, you know who she meant. Women who only like everything very safe and who pride themselves on conformity.
I’m not even in the slightest part of his target audience but his responses to the questions made me laugh so glad to see he is having fun with it.
Yes, they are running out of people. Yes.
Correction. They’re running out of white people.
Not a single one of the Marvel men, huh? (I understand RDJ turned it down). Not Lin-Manuel Miranda either? I would have gone for Boseman or Elba personally. Or Hiddleston.
But you know what, different strokes for different folks. I’m glad we don’t all find the same people hot. Congrats, Blake. And for the record, while I did have a “Him?” reaction, I don’t think Blake’s a dog. I think he has a nice twinkle in the eyes, and if he were my UPS driver, I’d probably have a crush on him. 🙂
I would have loved to see Lin, Idris or Chadwick get the title!
I think Chadwick Boseman is the prettiest man I’ve ever seen. Idris just might be the sexiest, and there’s just something adorable about Lin’s enthusiasm, and his talent is hella sexy.
No offense to Blake, but to me he’s ordinary-cute, like if he were somebody you knew in real life you’d think he was nice-looking. Not Hollywood-hot. Which is no shame, I’m not Hollywood-hot or ordinary-cute either one.
But I knew there was some reason I didn’t like him, and I couldn’t remember what it was. Somebody downthread remembered it. The turtle story.
I’m glad that he thinks this is as ridiculous as the rest of us.
He makes my legs slam shut
Don’t get the iinterrogation on Zac, he’s sexy as fuck
He’s not wrong. Other than him as a winner – the entire list is so random. Zack Efron and 50 Cent (is this 2006 again?), Ben Platt but no Chadwick Boseman or Idris Elba?
I really don’t understand why they included 50 cents. He is not really ugly or anything but he’s one of those people who are so terrible that it makes them unattractive inside and out. But this list is null and void anyway because it doesn’t contain Jason Momoa and Idris Elba.
Ben Platt may be cute and charming, but he is in no way sexy. I also hated Dear Evan Hansen.
i think idris was on the cover last yr. just a small pic.
I’m going to watch a photoshop tutorial right now and create MY People’s mag cover: STERLING K. BROWN!!!
Running out of white people maybe
He’s not wrong.
Truth.
Well, I’m white and I would not mind a bit more diversity. Idris Elba would have been a much better choice, I think.
And every single year, too. They could feature him again and again and I wouldn’t get bored.
You guys, I can’t with this.
I can’t because this dude got very drunk and tried to get my aunt to go back to his hotel room with him once…by putting his hand on her ass and telling her that his wife and my aunt’s boyfriend didn’t have to know.
Just ugh.
That’s disappointing. Not surprising I guess, but still.
It gets worse when you consider that when she told him to take his hand off of her or he’d lose it his response was to get angry at her.
That’s horribly, Galaxias!
Not surprised. Sorry that happened to your aunt.
As they say over at Dlisted – I would. I so would. I don’t particularly like the cover photo, but I still would.
I also wouldn’t complain if it were Jason Mamoa on the cover. 😀
Mamoa would actually make sense though.
Okay but they did get one thing right, and that’s including Kumail Nanjiani.
We kicked this around yesterday at work. Consensus of younger women was Jason Mamoa. If this silliness is to continue, why not a gay man? Luke Evans or Matt Bomer. Also, does everyone remember Blake’s homophobic tweets?
When Bomer was ‘everywhere’ a few years ago, I posted the same question on a couple sites..I guess being ‘publicly straight’ is a prerequisite. Over the years, these people-most awards have coincided with the opening of that celeb’s film, or other project and have obviously been a coordinated promotional effort with their agencies.
The man runs over turtles on the highway on purpose. He’s a jerk. I’ve never liked him ever since I read that. And Jason Momoa is the obvious pick… get it together People.
What the hell kind of person runs over turtles on purpose?!!! In these parts we stop and help it across, and I live in Assholelandia. Cripes!
He didn’t, he admitted it was a joke and poor taste. He says dumb stuff a lot.
What pickles come in packages?? Don’t they always come in jars???? Seriously, can someone tell me what he’s talking about? Thanks!
Gas station pickles come in packages, I think.
I don’t see how the editors could look at this guy next to, say Michael B Jordan, and choose Shelton. It’s nonsensical. The fix is in for sure.
“Gas station pickles” — what a revolting combination of words. Thank you so much for explaining.
The animal cruelty element here is most disturbing — I didn’t know that about the turtles, as per other Ann’s comment above.
I worked for a major film company in marketing, trust me, People Magazine is lobbied by managers and PR to get their actor or musician this cover/win! This is not drawn out of a hat or by popularity. Gwen means she told him to go for it and push to get this title etc. There is absolutely no humility here. This is completely fake, a lot like how entertainers get those Hollywood Walk of Fame stars.
Except the first sexiest man alive – JFK Jr. If I remember the story correctly, People had a real nice photo of him but no story. One of the editors suggested naming him the sexiest man alive. Boom a genre is born. But the first cover was pretty organic – no lobbying, no favors.
Unfortunately the first was Mel Gibson. But you got the story right basically, except for the dude.
Ah I blocked Mel out because he’s a horrible person. :p
No Chadwick?! That man is a dream boat. I’ve had a crush on him since “42”.
I personally don’t find Michael B. Jordan attractive. Dude’s got no chin.
Michael B. was cute enough to me but not “sexy” until I saw him in his “Black Panther” movie costume.
I agree with Blake. People ran out of people (that fit their narrow criteria). But Blake has 20 million twitter followers and millions of viewers on the Voice. He is promoting an album and a show (up against Idol again now) so is he gonna say no when lots of people’s jobs depend on him? Finally stop with the Trump bs. I’m liberal and like him. There are those among us who like a man in jeans and flannel. He is also self deprecating and rather smart. Anyway.Instead of blaming him and fingerpointing him, write People. They are the idiots. Momoa yes. Don’t know Idris’s work. Lin Manual Miranda?
People wants someone with the numbers to buy magazines and clicks. That is pretty much the bottom line. Isn’t it always. I vote for Lin (particularly in light of what he is doing for Puerto Rico).
Come on, Lin is not sexy. I also don’t like how he petitioned to get that FALN terrorist out of prison, who killed many people downtown years ago. My father was right outside when it happened.
I agree. Lin is extremely talented and a good human. He’s the type of guy I’d want to marry. He is definitely not sexy or meant to be at the top of any sexy list, and that is okay. I’d pick him as a real life boyfriend over any man who ever received the sexy title.
Different strokes for different folks. Lin is sexy to me.
: ) I do think he is a great husband and father, which is very sexy.
Just no. My lady parts dry up like an Arizona desert when I look at him
Who is this person? Seriously, I know nothing about him except that he occasionally pops up in Gwen Stefani headlines.
Thank you for sharing.
My opinion is that People thinks he will appeal to the many female readers who are carrying around some extra weight, bc he talks so much about eating and being “fat.” So he makes the overweight women feel better about themselves. That said, I don’t agree with this selection, but he is much better than Justin Timberlake.
Yes he is and better, Kaiser, than Roger “Smuggie McSmugFace” Swiss Cheese Federer, perish the thought…but he’s still pretty damn average.
If Blake Shelton is what is sexy in Trump’s America, I’ll pass on men for the next 3 years. Catch up on my reading. Maybe join that kickball league in my neighborhood.
Ugh that’s a no for me. However, I can count on the few that made my heart stop (and I’m dating myself by naming them here): JFK Jr and Mark Harmon.
Agreed. When he was younger, Mark Harmon was beautiful. He didn’t carry those looks as he aged for whatever reason.
JFK Jr requires no explanation. He is the standard bearer and the reason why it’s hard for others to measure up to this title.
Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp in the day. But now a big nope on both.
Summer School! Such a great flick.
JFK Jr. was the only one that got the Bouvier genes. The others you can tell they are Kennedys – the toothy smiles. Not bad but if you stand next to a Bouvier there is no contest.
JFK Jnr is truly one of the most handsome men I’ve ever seen (seen in film / pictures that is). Sexy? Undecided.
White mediocrity wins again.
I did laugh at “Damn straight I’m Mr. Sexy!”
I feel like this selection officially cancels the SMA as any sort of actual acknowledgment, and it clearly shows it’s a bought and paid for PR mechanism. I liked his attitude about it, and I got a good laugh out of his interview, but he’s still not the sexiest man alive. Please.
It’s a dumb title anyway and always has been imo. But he’s not taking it too seriously and just having fun with it so whatever. For me, he’s not really my type. As I get older I do focus more on personality but even then, probably still not my type from what I’ve read LOL
Given how PEOPLE has been going lately I’m surprised they didn’t go full right-wing fanboi and name Trump, Photoshopping his head on Chris Hemsworth’s body or something.
If I want to see hot cover guys, I’m not looking at People, that’s for sure.
The cover of Men’s Health works for me!
Lol. Just loooooooooooooooooooooool. So unappealing, unattractive, unhygienic looking.
Opens book of humble sh*t to say, but truly believes in the title. I bet Orange Foolius congratulates him.
People got this ALL wrong. I think Blake can be funny and charming, but “sexy” is never a word I’d use to describe him… If they wanted a country guy, why not go for Sam Hunt or something?
Celebrity Gossip, Academic Style is just using their facebook page to exclusively post tweets and articles in which Blake Shelton is burned. It’s hilarious and highly recommended. You’re welcome.
She convinced him to go for it? As in they actually have to enter? It’s pretty sad that in 2017 we still have celebrities who go for this stuff.