The Friends standout added that his wife of 18 years, Julie Yaeger, who he met shortly after filming Clueless, was the only person he told about winning the title, and she was “stupefied.” He continued, “After some giggling and shock, she said, ‘Oh, they got it right.’ And that was very sweet. She was probably not telling the truth, but what’s she going to say?
Other past recipients include Mel Gibson—the first to be given the honor in 1985—John Legend, Ben Affleck, Denzel Washington, Idris Elba, Sean Connery, Tom Cruise, Patrick Swayze, Hugh Jackman, Johnny Depp, Adam Levine, Ryan Reynolds, Channing Tatum, Blake Shelton and Dwayne Johnson.
“Listen, my Sexiest Man Alive title is in perpetuity. It’s for life. Right?,” Johnson joked to People in a recent interview. “I don’t give it up.”
Legend, who was named People‘s Sexiest Man Alive in 2019, felt differently towards the end of his reign, telling the magazine just before Jordan dethroned him that he was “so ready to relinquish this title.”
