Sexiest Man

Who will be the Sexiest Man this year? Or to be more specific, who will People put on next week's cover with the title of Sexiest Man? Right now I have no guesses. Actually, I have one (fanciful) guess. Barack Obama's memoir comes out on November 17. Would People award him the crown as part of a promo package for the book? They'd probably love to, but I'm sure President Obama would never agree. Too bad. 

Do you remember who was last year's Sexiest Man? It was John Legend, and here's the list of all previous titleholders: 

1985 Mel Gibson
1986 Mark Harmon
1987 Harry Hamlin
1988 John Kennedy, Jr.
1989 Sean Connery
1990 Tom Cruise
1991 Patrick Swayze
1992 Nick Nolte
1993 Sexiest Couple: Richard Gere and Cindy Crawford
1995 Brad Pitt
1996 Denzel Washington
1997 George Clooney
1998 Harrison Ford
1999 Richard Gere
2000 Brad Pitt
2001 Pierce Brosnan
2002 Ben Affleck
2003 Johnny Depp
2004 Jude Law
2005 Matthew McConaughey
2006 George Clooney
2007 Matt Damon
2008 Hugh Jackman
2009 Johnny Depp
2010 Ryan Reynolds
2011 Bradley Cooper
2012 Channing Tatum
2013 Adam Levine
2014 Chris Hemsworth
2015 David Beckham
2016 Dwayne Johnson
2017 Blake Shelton
2018 Idris Elba
2019 John Legend

Sexiest Man: John Legend

Issue dated November 25, 2019: John Legend




I'm a little late publishing this; if you haven't heard, John Legend is the Sexiest Man Alive for 2019, a surprise pick that I didn't see coming. (I did have him on the Guessing Game list for something else, see it here.) If memory serves, this is the first year they've published two covers; the final version includes headlines about Harry and Meghan, and Demi Moore:

 

I've updated my list:

1985 Mel Gibson
1986 Mark Harmon
1987 Harry Hamlin
1988 John Kennedy, Jr.
1989 Sean Connery
1990 Tom Cruise
1991 Patrick Swayze
1992 Nick Nolte
1993 Sexiest Couple: Richard Gere and Cindy Crawford
1995 Brad Pitt
1996 Denzel Washington
1997 George Clooney
1998 Harrison Ford
1999 Richard Gere
2000 Brad Pitt
2001 Pierce Brosnan
2002 Ben Affleck
2003 Johnny Depp
2004 Jude Law
2005 Matthew McConaughey
2006 George Clooney
2007 Matt Damon
2008 Hugh Jackman
2009 Johnny Depp
2010 Ryan Reynolds
2011 Bradley Cooper
2012 Channing Tatum
2013 Adam Levine
2014 Chris Hemsworth
2015 David Beckham
2016 Dwayne Johnson
2017 Blake Shelton
2018 Idris Elba
2019 John Legend

Last year at this time: Issue dated November 26, 2018

The Guessing Game - Updated

What will be on the cover of People this week? I'm almost certain it will be the Sexiest Man Alive, 2019 edition. Who might get the call this year? My only guesses are Antonio Banderas, who's getting Oscar buzz for his performance in Pain & Glory, and Chris Pratt.

Other possibilities (for the cover, not for the title of Sexiest Man. Richard Gere has already won twice and there's no universe in which Sean Spicer or Donald Trump Jr. are even in the running to be the Sexiest Man):

Sean Spicer: There's beginning to be some controversy over why the man who is clearly the worst dancer on Dancing With The Stars is never in the bottom two. The answer, of course, is that he's getting massive support from viewers, egged on by Donald:

Vote for Sean Spicer on Dancing with the Stars. He is a great and very loyal guy who is working very hard! #MAGA https://t.co/JGvKANCRqZ

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 5, 2019

(Years ago Bristol Palin, also a not-very-good dancer, benefited from the same kind of support from her mother's passionate fans.) My prediction is that Spicer will make it to the finale, then be eliminated in the third spot. Regardless of how many phone votes he gets, I'm positive producers won't let him win the Mirror Ball Trophy. Can they do that? My guess is yes. I'd be willing to bet that somewhere in the fine print of the official rules, and/or the contracts the contestants sign, there is legal language stating that all results are subject to producer discretion.  

Richard Gere: At 70, he and his much-younger wife are expecting their second child
Don Jr.: His book is out; he's getting some pushback from veterans because of this: (He's describing a visit to Arlington National Cemetery right before his father's inauguration)

“I rarely get emotional, if ever,” Trump Jr. wrote in his new book, “Triggered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us.” “Yet, as we drove past the rows of white grave markers, in the gravity of the moment, I had a deep sense of the importance of the presidency and a love of our country.”

“In that moment, I also thought of all the attacks we’d already suffered as a family, and about all the sacrifices we’d have to make to help my father succeed — voluntarily giving up a huge chunk of our business and all international deals to avoid the appearance that we were ‘profiting off the office,’” (From the Washington Post, read more here)

The LaBaron Family: Nine members of a Mormon community in northern Mexico died in an ambush by gunmen. Read more here
John Legend and Carrie Underwood: Released an updated version of Baby It's Cold Outside for the #MeToo era
The Giudices: Teresa and the girls are visiting Dad in Italy
Harry and Meghan: Hints about baby #2
Ashley Bianco: The former ABC employee who clipped a segment of Amy Robach talking about the Jeffrey Epstein investigation. She was fired by her new employer, CBS
Pat Sajak: Emergency surgery. Vanna's filling in while he recuperates
Miley Cyrus: Surgery on her vocal cords

Stories that appear on the new cover will be highlighted in green.

Update on Monday morning. Laurel Griggs: The 13-year-old Broadway actress died of cardiac arrest following an asthma attack
Chris Evans: Another possibility for Sexiest Man. He's been in the Avengers movies and also starts in Knives Out, opening November 27. Co-stars include Daniel Craig, Don Johnson and Christopher Plummer. (Captain von Trapp for Sexiest Man? Gets my vote.)

Update #2 on Tuesday morning. I was wrong. Sean Spicer was eliminated from Dancing With The Stars last night. What happened? Did Donald's minions stop obeying his orders? Maybe, although I still think it's possible the results were tweaked by producers, you know, to avoid rioting in the streets. Anyway, Donald tweeted his support before the show started, then deleted the tweet when Sean was eliminated:

Trump gave Spicer a big boost, but tonight it wasn't enough. Spicer has been voted off "Dancing With the Stars." https://t.co/hjwVswqYqP

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) November 12, 2019

After Spicer was voted off "Dancing," @realDonaldTrump deleted his 8:33pm tweet urging people to "vote for Sean." Trump had written, "He is a great and very loyal guy who is working very hard." Now he's posted a new message: "A great try by @seanspicer. We are all proud of you!"

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) November 12, 2019

It’s a minor thing but nonetheless telling that Trump deleted his tweet promoting Spicer. It’s almost as if he can’t abide the fact that his endorsement lacks sufficient power. pic.twitter.com/zDxZ77wfGc

— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) November 12, 2019

Here's Donald's "you tried" tweet: 

A great try by @seanspicer. We are all proud of you!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2019

CNN ponders the meaning of all this, you can read about it here.

Update #2. See the new cover, featuring John Legend as the Sexiest Man Alive for 2019, here. 

Chip & Joanna Gaines, AGAIN

Issue dated November 18, 2019: Chip and Joanna Gaines


It's Chip and Joanna Gaines, yes, again. When they appeared on their first People cover three years ago, I had literally never heard of them. Since that issue, dated October 24, 2016, this is the eighth cover featuring one or both of the Gaineses, and as blog readers know, I just don't get it. Are they really that popular? (They're absolutely not that interesting.) Their issues must sell really well, otherwise we'd never hear about them.

Next week should be the Sexiest Man cover.

Last year at this time: Issue dated November 19, 2018

The Guessing Game - Updated

What will be on the cover of People this week? My guesses:

Sexiest Man: No guesses. I have no idea who will get the title this year. Update on Tuesday morning: Based on a post at People.com that says the Sexiest Man issue will be on newsstands November 15, I don't think it will be the cover story this week. Hold that thought for next week. I also have one guess for who the winner might be: Antonio Banderas. At age 59, he would tie Sean Connery for the oldest Sexiest Man (Harrison Ford is second at age 56,) but he's currently getting good press for his movie Pain & Glory.
Demi Burnett and Kristian Haggerty: The BIP couple has broken up; Tayshia and John Paul Jones are also no longer together (what a surprise)
J.D. Scott: Older brother of the Property Brothers, he got married on Halloween
Saoirse Kennedy Hill: Her death was ruled accidental
Rudy Boesch: Former Survivor contestant dies at age 91
Brian Tarantina: Star of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, died at 60
Donald: Was booed as he walked into the Ultimate Fighting Championship Saturday night in New York City. This was just a few days after he was also booed at Game 5 of the World Series. My guess: We won't see him in public, other than at carefully-populated campaign rallies, between now and the election, which by-the-way, is now less than one year away
Kim Kardashian: She's gained weight, 18 pounds to be exact
Former president Jimmy Carter: He said this week-end, at age 95, he has no fear of death; the Iran Hostage Crisis started 40 years ago today (Nov. 4)
Natalia Grace Barnett: Ukrainian girl abandoned by adoptive parents, she'll be on Dr. Phil this Thursday
Arnold Schwarzenegger: Terminator bombed at the box office
Baby Shark: I had literally never heard this song until I watched part of Game 7 of the World Series. Now it's everywhere
Tyler Cameron and Andi Dorman: The Bachelor Nation alums ran the New York marathon Sunday
Amy Fisher, Joey Buttafuoco and/or Mary Jo Buttafuoco: 27 years after the "Long Island Lolita" shot her boyfriend's wife, 20/20 is covering the story Friday night. It was very big news at the time:

Issue dated October 12, 1992


You can read the 1992 cover story here.

Stories that appear on the new cover will be highlighted in green.

Update, part 2. Tom Hanks: I had him on the list last week and I still think he may get a cover story promoting the Mr. Rogers movie, which comes out November 22.

Update #2. No green this week, I completely struck out on the cover stories. The only suspense about next week's cover, which will be the annual Sexiest Man issue, is who the Sexiest Man will be. Click here to see this week's issue, featuring Chip and Joanna Gaines.

Lori Loughlin

Issue dated November 11, 2019: Lori Loughlin


For the third time this year, Lori Loughlin is the main cover story, resulting from her part in the college admission scandal. In none of those stories did the magazine actually speak with Loughlin herself. Everything is attributed to "sources." I had her, along with the Chris Lane/Lauren Bushnell wedding story, on the Guessing Game list.

If People follows the same schedule as last year, next week should be the Sexiest Man cover. Any guesses for who the lucky guy might be? Do you remember last year's winner? (It was Idris Elba.) See his cover here and the list of all previous winners here.

Last year at this time: Issue dated November 12, 2018

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In this week's issue of PEOPLE, #JoannaGaines opens up about her new life with five kids. “It woke me up a little bit.” Tap the bio link to read more. | 📷: Perry Hagopian

A post shared by People Magazine (@people) on Oct 31, 2018 at 6:44am PDT

The Guessing Game - Updated

What will be on the cover of People this week? My guesses:

Simone Biles: Broke the all-time record, male or female, for medals at the gymnastics World Championships
Anne Sacoolas: The American wife of a diplomat serving in the U.K., Sacoolas is accused of hitting and killing a British teenager while driving on the wrong side of the road. Claiming diplomatic immunity, she returned to the U.S. The dead boy's distraught parents are insisting immunity be waived
Hunter Biden: Still in the news. ABC interviewed him over the week-end, it will air on several ABC shows beginning tomorrow
Peter Weber: The next Bachelor was injured while golfing on an off day in Costa Rica. Question: who carries two cocktail glasses while climbing into a golf cart?
Matt Lauer, Brook Nevils and/or Ronan Farrow: Farrow's new book includes a claim from Nevils that Lauer raped her during the Sochi Olympics. Lauer claims their sexual encounters were consensual
Marie Osmond and the Osmond Brothers: The original 4 will perform for the final time on today's episode of The Talk
Coleen Rooney: A bizarre feud on Twitter, did Rebekah Vardy give false stories to a tabloid. based  on items in Rooney's personal Instagram account? (Who are these people? They're the wives of big-deal soccer players in England.) (Read more here)
Shep Smith: In a surprise on Friday, Smith announced he was leaving Fox News. Was he fired or did he resign?
Carson King: Donated over $3 million dollars to a children's hospital after his "need money for beer" sign went viral
James Middleton: Kate's brother is engaged
Tyler Skaggs: A Los Angeles Angels employee claims to have provided Skaggs with the drugs that killed him
Coco Gauff: The 15-year-old phenom won her first Singles title and is now ranked in the Top 100
Joe Giudice: Released by ICE and now in Italy, Giudice will continue to fight extradition

Sexiest Man: Not for this week, but it's time to start thinking about the 2019 Sexiest Man. People usually announces the newly-crowned winner in early November. Right now I have no guesses for who it might be this year; here are the previous winners:

1985 Mel Gibson
1986 Mark Harmon
1987 Harry Hamlin
1988 John Kennedy, Jr.
1989 Sean Connery
1990 Tom Cruise
1991 Patrick Swayze
1992 Nick Nolte
1993 Sexiest Couple: Richard Gere and Cindy Crawford
1995 Brad Pitt
1996 Denzel Washington
1997 George Clooney
1998 Harrison Ford
1999 Richard Gere
2000 Brad Pitt
2001 Pierce Brosnan
2002 Ben Affleck
2003 Johnny Depp
2004 Jude Law
2005 Matthew McConaughey
2006 George Clooney
2007 Matt Damon
2008 Hugh Jackman
2009 Johnny Depp
2010 Ryan Reynolds
2011 Bradley Cooper
2012 Channing Tatum
2013 Adam Levine
2014 Chris Hemsworth
2015 David Beckham
2016 Dwayne Johnson
2017 Blake Shelton
2018 Idris Elba

Stories that appear on the new cover will be highlighted in green.

Update: William and Kate: A "complex" visit to Pakistan.

And one more thing. Remember this?:



It's from 18 years ago, when Rudy Giuliani was in the process of dumping his second wife and taking up with his third. (Read the cover story, dated May 28, 2001, here.) I don't really think People will put Rudy on the cover this week, but if they want to, all they have to do is swap out the pictures and change a few words because history is repeating itself. (Wow, is it possible that Rudy isn't a very nice man?) Rudy is done with wife number three, as explained by the Washington Post in an article titled "Third time was not the charm: Rudy Giuliani's latest divorce is bitter, expensive and very public"

It starts with this:

In the “What on earth happened to Rudy Giuliani?” sweepstakes, there are plenty of entries but no winners. Everyone wants to know why “America’s Mayor” became President Trump’s favorite consigliere.

Here’s one factor: He’s in the midst of a very bitter, very expensive, very public divorce. (A moment of silence, please, for the death of romance — especially when there’s no prenuptial.) Perhaps the contentious end of his third marriage is a distraction?

... includes this:

Giuliani, 75, is leaving this marriage the same way he entered it: with blaring headlines, tabloid updates and so much drama.

“He digs it,” says Ken Frydman, spokesman for his 1993 mayoral campaign. “He loves the attention. It’s sport for him — and a lack of judgment.”

In May 2000, New York’s two-term mayor called a news conference and announced a separation from his second wife, television anchor Donna Hanover. It was also a public acknowledgment of his year-long relationship with Judith Nathan, whom he praised as a “very, very fine woman.” The separation, however, was allegedly a surprise to his wife, who said she found out her 16-year marriage was ending by watching television.

A surprise, but also not surprising: Hanover started dating Giuliani when he was married to his first wife, Regina Peruggi. An eternal mystery: When the mistress becomes the wife, why is she shocked when another mistress enters the scene? (“Job opening,” goes the old joke.)

... Nathan and Giuliani met in 1999 at Club Macanudo, an East Side cigar bar. Nathan, divorced from her second husband, was a hospital sales rep and a trained nurse. Across the room: Mayor Giuliani. Sparks flew.

“It was the thunderbolt,’’ he told the New York Times. “Our attraction was instantaneous. There was almost something mystical about the feeling.’’

Soon, the two were inseparable, except for the quality time he spent with his wife and two children.

The affair was not, shall we say, discreet. Nathan accompanied the mayor to a number of official functions and stayed at his side during his treatment for prostate cancer, which led to his divorce lawyer’s TMI revelation in 2001 that the cancer had rendered Giuliani impotent and the two had not had sex for a year. They were not ones to let the marriage of true minds admit impediments, so love flourished.

... and ends with this:

Judith Giuliani, 64, receives $42,000 a month in alimony, an amount she claims is peanuts compared with the $230,000 per month they spent as a couple, according to the New York Times. Her lawyer, Bernard Clair, reported that Giuliani earned millions working at the law firm Greenberg Traurig: Almost $8 million in 2016 and $9 million in 2017. He also claims that by working pro bono for Trump, his client’s husband is deliberately concealing income and working with people who will have to “reimburse him” at a later date.

Giuliani, on the other hand, is pleading poverty. Because he is working for free and paying his own expenses, his lawyer says he can’t afford to support his wife in the lifestyle to which she became accustomed and had to borrow money to pay taxes.

“My reason for working for President Trump for free is wholly and entirely patriotic, and also because he is my friend,” he told the New York Post.

Meanwhile, they’re reportedly fighting over everything: money, Christmas decorations, remote controls and who gets to hang out in which of the private clubs to which they belong.

Judge Michael Katz told the couple: “It is beyond me why either party in this case would have an interest in having all of this done publicly.” Settling, he said, “would treat their relationship and marriage with more respect than divulging all our dirty laundry out for public consumption.”

That’s not happening. There is some chatter in New York that Judith Giuliani is writing a book — or it might be a savvy negotiating tactic for someone with no prenuptial and a good memory.

The Giulianis’ next court date is scheduled for January. (Read the entire article here.) 

Update #2. See the new cover, featuring Michael Douglas and his son Cameron, here. 

Sexiest Man Alive, 2018: Idris Elba

Issue dated November 19, 2018: Idris Elba

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#IdrisElba is People's 2018 #SexiestManAlive! Click the link in our bio for all of the ~sexy~ details. 🔥 |📷: @davidburtonstudio

A post shared by People Magazine (@people) on Nov 5, 2018 at 8:52pm PST

Idris Elba takes the "Sexiest" crown this year, only the second black winner, twenty-two years after Denzel Washington in 1996. So far I haven't seen any pictures of him without his shirt on, but when the actual magazine comes out I'll dive in to see what I can find. Idris was one of the other "sexy men we like" back in 2014, see that cover below, and I'm pretty sure Prince Harry will be one of the other 179 hot men the magazine chooses to feature.

If you can't tell, yes, I'm enjoying all this, but I also believe that like the "Most Beautiful Woman'' issue, this is a feature that needs to go away. People nodded a bit to changing sensibilities about how women look by changing to just "Beautiful" when they spotlighted attractive women back in April, but whether it's women being beautiful or men being sexy, it's still an obsessive focus on the way people look. (And note that I'm very grateful People has stayed far, far away from designating the world's sexiest woman. Try to imagine how rancid that could get.) Although the magazine doesn't come out and say it, they're sending a not-subtle message about what's appealing and what isn't. 

The final version of the cover has a couple of sidebar headlines, including one about Gwyneth Paltrow; when I find a cut-and-pasteable version I'll post it here.

As I was thinking about all the men who've been given the title over the years, and looking back over the full list (see it here,) I realized that it's been 30 years, wow, since JFK Jr. was featured on the cover. If he had lived he'd be turning 58 in two and a half weeks. Twenty years ago it was Harrison Ford; ten years ago Hugh Jackman got the call. Here's a look back at all those covers:

Four years ago: The sexiest man of 2014


Ten years ago: The sexiest man of 2008


Twenty years ago: The sexiest man of 1998


Thirty years ago: The sexiest man of 1988


Last year at this time: Issue dated November 20, 2017

The Guessing Game: Who Will Be The Sexiest Man? - Updated

What will be on the cover of People this week? A story that was posted at people.com on Friday says that the Sexiest Man will be revealed "next week," or one week earlier than last year, so now the only suspense is who will it be? The article provides a clue, or at least a list of men who can pretty much be ruled out. In an online voting poll, readers selected the so-called hottest man named Ryan (Reynolds, the 2010 winner,) Matt (Bomer,) Tom (Hardy,) Chris (Hemsworth, the 2014 winner,) Sam (Heughan,) Jason (Momoa,) and Hugh (Jackman, the 2008 winner.) You can figure none of them will be the big winner this time. (Read the poll results here.)

So who will be the Sexiest Man of 2018? I had an intriguing thought: How about new husband/father-to-be Prince Harry? Based on criteria in a 2014 article at Slate.com, he checks some, but not all of the boxes:

The Sexiest Man Alive of this moment is reliably white, straight, mid-30's, handsome to women, relatable to men, ideally suitable for both your grandmother's coffee table and your niece's Tumblr, mired in no known scandals, famous enough to have starred in a blockbuster film or high-rated television show in the past year, but desperate enough to agree to subject himself to a revealing shirtless pictorial and embarrassing psycho-sexual interview in People's pages.

White, straight, mid-30's, handsome to women, relatable to men, ideally suitable for your grandma and your niece? Check. (Well, maybe not the relatable part.) Famous? Check. No known scandals? Not recently. And an American wife!

On the other hand, Harry's not the least bit desperate for anything and no way he takes his shirt off for People magazine. Darn. Justin Timberlake, whose new book, "Hindsight," came out October 30? Maybe, but a guy's gotta want it. According to the article at Slate, there was a time, in the early years of the annual Sexiest Man issue, when the cover article was done as a "write-around," which means the article was written featuring quotes from sources and contacts, but no actual interview or photoshoot with the man himself. Over the years, that changed. Now the chosen one has to agree to participate:

"Unlike TIME's Person of the Year, which is bestowed, Sexiest Man has to be accepted," one recent former staffer told [the author.] Now, "whoever it is does a photo shoot, sits for an interview, does a lot of press." These days, People's access to the Sexiest Man Alive is more important than his assets. "Blog discussions started to eat in to People's influence," [blogger Elaine] Lui says. "Suddenly we had access to paparazzi shots through image agencies. And we were willing to write things they wouldn't"--unverified rumors, unflattering asides. In order to outplay the upstarts, Lui says, "the angle People needs now is 'exclusive'"--quotes from the source, and shirtless photos to match.

Would People break the pattern and do a "write-around" cover story about Harry? I'd say it's not out of the question.

The Slate article was written at the time of Chris Hemsworth's selection; since then David Beckham (2015,) Dwayne Johnson (2016) and Blake Shelton (last year) have worn the crown. (See the full list of previous winners here.)

Who will it be this year? I really have no idea.

Read the Slate article here and click here to see all the previous Sexiest Man covers.

What else might be on the cover? My guesses:

Gary Hart: The movie about his political sex scandal comes out November 21
Ina Garten: She's been guest-editing Bon Appetit, her newest cookbook came out last month
Katie Holmes and/or Jamie Foxx: Engaged?
Barbra Streisand: A new album
Michelle Obama: Still a possibility, but I don't think she'd settle for being a sidebar headline on the Sexiest Man cover
Prince Charles at 70: Also still a possibility, although probably not, given that he is front and center on the new cover of Vanity Fair
Julia Roberts: Her new show on Amazon
The Situation: The Jersey Shore star got married, in advance of going to jail
Oprah: Hits the campaign trail
Kaitlyn Bristowe and Shawn Booth: The Bachelorette couple broke up. Apparently the rumors from a few weeks ago were right after all
Alec Baldwin: Arrested for punching a man over a parking space
Duggars: Another wedding
Brett Young: Country singer gets married
Demi Lovato: Out of rehab
Kenya Moore: The Real Housewives of Atlanta star gave birth at age 47

Monday morning update: When I saw this picture of Brad Pitt, taken this week-end...


photo credit: just jared

... I thought, wow, Brad looks good. He's been the Sexiest Man twice before, in 1995 and 2000. Would People do a three-peat? Maybe. (Julia Roberts has been the "Most Beautiful Woman" five times.) As with Harry, it would probably have to be a write-around. I can't see Brad agreeing to do the shirtless promo thing.

Update #2: It's not Harry. The following is currently posted at People.com:

On Monday night's episode of the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, host Jimmy Fallon will be revealing PEOPLE's 2018 Sexiest Man Alive, with the winner himself making a special appearance.

A clue? Could the Sexiest Man Alive be Sam Heughan? The TV Guide listing on my television says that Heughan will be a guest on Fallon's show tonight. He was voted "sexiest Sam," is he also the Sexiest Man Alive? It's possible. We'll know soon.

Stories that appear on the new cover will be highlighted in green.

Update #3: See the new cover, featuring Idris Elba, here.

Issue dated October 29, 2018: Meghan's Baby Joy

Issue dated October 29, 2018: Pregnant Meghan

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Celebrating a wedding and baby news all in one issue @People #meghanmarkle #princeharry #dukeandduchessofsussex #royalbaby #eugenieandjack

A post shared by Simon Perry (@sperrypeoplemag) on Oct 17, 2018 at 5:48am PDT

No surprise about the cover this week and I even called the headline: Baby Joy! (See the Guessing Game post here.) Also as expected, princess bride Eugenie is downgraded to a sidebar; on the other hand, no sign of new mom Pippa, possibly because no pictures of her with the baby are out yet. So far People.com hasn't posted the large version of the new cover, so for now we'll go with reporter Simon Perry's Instagram post.

Last year at this time: Issue dated October 30, 2017


And one more thing. I just had an intriguing thought. As I mentioned last week, the annual Sexiest Man Alive cover should come out in November. Could new husband/dad-to-be Prince Harry get the title this year? The more I think about it the more I think it's a pretty good possibility. Stay tuned...

Lady GaGa

Issue dated October 22, 2018: Lady GaGa


Lady GaGa was on the Guessing Game list last week, along with co-star Bradley Cooper, and they were featured on last week's cover in a sidebar headline. This week GaGa gets the cover all to herself, although it doesn't look as though People actually interviewed her for this story. The teaser article at People.com includes a couple of quotes that are identified as something she "recently told People" (read it here,) but the new cover doesn't scream "People Exclusive" or "The People Interview." Now that A Star Is Born is a monster hit, it appears that People dipped into the archives to put together a main cover story about a suddenly hot topic.

Barbara Bush's wedding is also featured this week.

Last year at this time: Issue dated October 23, 2017


And one more thing: Start thinking about who might be the next so-called Sexiest Man Alive. If People's pattern holds, the 2018 title-holder will be announced five weeks from today. To get you in the mood, here's the list of past winners, and note that Lady GaGa's co-star was the winner back in 2011:

1985 Mel Gibson
1986 Mark Harmon
1987 Harry Hamlin
1988 John Kennedy, Jr.
1989 Sean Connery
1990 Tom Cruise
1991 Patrick Swayze
1992 Nick Nolte
1993 Sexiest Couple: Richard Gere and Cindy Crawford
1995 Brad Pitt
1996 Denzel Washington
1997 George Clooney
1998 Harrison Ford
1999 Richard Gere
2000 Brad Pitt
2001 Pierce Brosnan
2002 Ben Affleck
2003 Johnny Depp
2004 Jude Law
2005 Matthew McConaughey
2006 George Clooney
2007 Matt Damon
2008 Hugh Jackman
2009 Johnny Depp
2010 Ryan Reynolds
2011 Bradley Cooper
2012 Channing Tatum
2013 Adam Levine
2014 Chris Hemsworth
2015 David Beckham
2016 Dwayne Johnson
2017 Blake Shelton
2018 ????

Sexiest Man Alive: Blake Shelton

Monday afternoon update: I finally found a final version of the cover, with sidebar headlines about Jordin Sparks, Michelle Pfeiffer and a killer clown:



Original post:
Issue dated November 27, 2017: Blake Shelton


I didn't do a guessing game post this week and even in my head I had no idea who would get the title of Sexiest Man Alive this year. And note again, this may not be the final version of the cover. A couple of sidebar or topline headlines will be probably be added before publication.

Last year at this time: Issue dated November 28, 2016

The Queen's 70th Anniversary

Issue dated November 20, 2017: The Queen's 70th Anniversary


This time last year: Issue dated November 21, 2016

Next week is the annual Sexiest Man issue. Do you remember who "won" last year? Probably not, so I'll tell you. It was Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Can you name all the previous winners? Me neither, really, but I do keep a list: 

1985 Mel Gibson
1986 Mark Harmon
1987 Harry Hamlin
1988 John Kennedy, Jr.
1989 Sean Connery
1990 Tom Cruise
1991 Patrick Swayze
1992 Nick Nolte
1993 Sexiest Couple: Richard Gere and Cindy Crawford
1995 Brad Pitt
1996 Denzel Washington
1997 George Clooney
1998 Harrison Ford
1999 Richard Gere
2000 Brad Pitt
2001 Pierce Brosnan
2002 Ben Affleck
2003 Johnny Depp
2004 Jude Law
2005 Matthew McConaughey
2006 George Clooney
2007 Matt Damon
2008 Hugh Jackman
2009 Johnny Depp
2010 Ryan Reynolds
2011 Bradley Cooper
2012 Channing Tatum
2013 Adam Levine
2014 Chris Hemsworth
2015 David Beckham
2016 Dwayne Johnson
2017 ???

Who will win this year? I have no idea. I've been a little removed from pop culture recently, as you can tell by my minimal blogging. Still, I'll post the new cover as soon as it's out. 

Sexiest Man: The Rock

Issue dated Nov. 28, 2016: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson


Can you name all the previous sexiest men? In 2014 I typed out the full list; here it is, updated with the most recent winners:

1985 Mel Gibson
1986 Mark Harmon
1987 Harry Hamlin
1988 John Kennedy, Jr.
1989 Sean Connery
1990 Tom Cruise
1991 Patrick Swayze
1992 Nick Nolte
1993 Sexiest Couple: Richard Gere and Cindy Crawford
1995 Brad Pitt
1996 Denzel Washington
1997 George Clooney
1998 Harrison Ford
1999 Richard Gere
2000 Brad Pitt
2001 Pierce Brosnan
2002 Ben Affleck
2003 Johnny Depp
2004 Jude Law
2005 Matthew McConaughey
2006 George Clooney
2007 Matt Damon
2008 Hugh Jackman
2009 Johnny Depp
2010 Ryan Reynolds
2011 Bradley Cooper
2012 Channing Tatum
2013 Adam Levine
2014 Chris Hemsworth
2015 David Beckham

Sexiest Man David Beckham, Adele

Issue dated December 7, 2015


Issue dated November 30, 2015


I got a little behind posting the covers; this brings us up to date. The new issue is posted a couple of days early, presumably because of the holiday later this week. Based on the number of "Sofia's getting married" stories at people.com over the week-end I had figured she'd get the main cover story this week, but apparently Adele is bigger news. I had a moment of thinking "Another Kennedy story, really?" but then I remembered - yesterday was Nov. 22, the 52nd anniversary of the assassination, always a hook for a Kennedy story about something or other. I have no idea what "shocking tapes" the headline refers to.

The Sexiest Man Alive

People goes with Chris Hemsworth, who I had barely heard of before this morning. If you're in the mood for a review, here's a list of all the previous winners.

1985 Mel Gibson
1986 Mark Harmon
1987 Harry Hamlin
1988 John Kennedy, Jr.
1989 Sean Connery
1990 Tom Cruise
1991 Patrick Swayze
1992 Nick Nolte
1993 Sexiest Couple: Richard Gere and Cindy Crawford
1995 Brad Pitt
1996 Denzel Washington
1997 George Clooney
1998 Harrison Ford
1999 Richard Gere
2000 Brad Pitt
2001 Pierce Brosnan
2002 Ben Affleck
2003 Johnny Depp
2004 Jude Law
2005 Matthew McConaughey
2006 George Clooney
2007 Matt Damon
2008 Hugh Jackman
2009 Johnny Depp
2010 Ryan Reynolds
2011 Bradley Cooper
2012 Channing Tatum
2013 Adam Levine

To do some demographic sorting, two of the men on this list have died (JFK, Jr. and Patrick Swayze,) three have appeared twice (Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Johnny Depp, plus Richard Gere, once as part of a couple and once by himself,) and only one, Denzel Washington, is black. Two, Gibson and Nolte, definitely haven't aged well. You can see all the actual covers here.

If you're interested in how People decides who gets the nod each year, and how that process has evolved, check out a great article at slate.com. I love their description of current and recent winners:

The Sexiest Man Alive of this moment is reliably white, straight, mid-30s, handsome to women, relatable to men, ideally suitable for both your grandmother’s coffee table and your niece’s Tumblr, mired in no known scandals, famous enough to have starred in a blockbuster film or high-rated television show in the past year, but desperate enough to agree to subject himself to a revealing shirtless pictorial and embarrassing psycho-sexual interview in People’s pages. 

I had suggested Bill Cosby, Solange Knowles and Honey Boo Boo as possible sidebar stories, but people went with a Dead Blonde Girl, Diem Brown.