Jonathan Bailey is leaning into his latest role: People magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive.”
“It’s a huge honor,” the actor, 37, said in his cover story. “Obviously, I’m incredibly flattered. And it’s completely absurd.”
Asked whether he’s ready to own the “internet’s boyfriend” title, Bailey replied bashfully, “I don’t know about that. There’s so many of them, right?”
Though he’s aware of the public’s thirst, he tries not to let it get to his head.
“I think sometimes you get really sucked in,” he explained, adding, “I might read [the online comments] once a month. I might dive in.”
The UK native — who stars in “Wicked,” “Bridgerton” and “Jurassic World: Rebirth” — appeared on Monday’s episode of “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” shortly after Page Six revealed he had been selected as this year’s “Sexiest Man Alive.”
“It’s an honor of a lifetime,” he told host Fallon before quipping, “And I wanna say, Jimmy, thank you so much for turning it down so that I could be here.”
Bailey recalled getting the news while he was starring as the title role in a modern-dress production of Shakespeare’s “Richard II” in London.
“For those of you who don’t know, it’s not a comedy,” he shared with the audience, noting that he was “hollowing [himself] out on stage every night.”
While he was “in the zone” of the very serious play, he admitted, “The only thing madder than doing ‘Richard II’ is being invited into this.”
Bailey went on to reveal that he drunkenly spilled the secret to his friends, who responded in disbelief, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, do your affirmations.”
Cheekily nodding to being the first openly gay man to be crowned, he added, “In 2025, I’m sort of thrilled that People magazine have invited someone in, to bestow this honor on someone who can really cherish the value of a sexy man.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source pagesix.com ’
