Jonathan Bailey has been named People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive, becoming the first openly gay man to receive the title since it was introduced nearly four decades ago. It is a milestone moment not only for Bailey but for LGBTQ+ representation in mainstream pop culture.
Bailey, who will soon grace cinema screens in Wicked: For Good, reacted to the news with a mixture of charm, disbelief and typically dry wit.
“I’m still giggling,” he confessed when the honour was revealed. “At the beginning of the year, I was doing Shakespeare’s Richard II. For those of you who don’t know, it’s not a comedy.”
He received the news mid-production, making the contrast between royal tragedy and celebrity adoration all the more surreal.
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“It’s a huge honour,” he told the magazine. “Obviously, I’m incredibly flattered. And it’s completely absurd.” Bailey joked that the only one he shared the news with beforehand was his beloved dog, Benson, who, naturally, appears alongside him in one of the cover images. In the shot, Bailey poses shirtless with the fluffy scene-stealer tucked tenderly under his arm, looking every inch the handsome leading man with a soft side.
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The second cover, meanwhile, sees the actor emerging chest-deep from the ocean, an effortlessly swoon-worthy look that has already sent fans into a frenzy online. Social media has lit up with celebration, both from admirers of Bailey’s talent and those proud to see an openly gay man front and centre in a long-running pop-culture tradition often dominated by straight Hollywood giants.
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Since the title first launched in 1985, with Mel Gibson as its inaugural recipient, the honour has been held by some of the world’s biggest stars, including Idris Elba. A rather glittering line-up, Jonathan Bailey being crowned Sexiest Man Alive feels notably fresh, signalling a shift in attitudes and tastes towards a more diverse idea of leading-man allure.
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