Even Blake Shelton Doesn't Think He's the Sexiest Man Alive
Blake Shelton has been named People's Sexiest Man of the Year, and a lot of people, including the singer himself, are surprised by the choice.
Joining the hard-bodied ranks of Dwayne Johnson, David Beckham and Chris Hemsworth, Blake Shelton was recently named People's Sexiest Man Alive, and there are some people who do not exactly agree.
Social media has been on fire lately with questions about the magazine's decision to bestow the top honors upon the country crooner. Even Shelton himself seems a bit surprised to hold the title because, unlike the long list of actors and athletes who came before him, the 41-year-old has body-image issues and is by no means in perfect shape.
"I think I like exercising more than I ever have, just because I know that it's easy for it to get away from me at my age now. But I've never been good at it. You can see pictures of me — it is what it is," he told the magazine. "I'll lose a bunch of weight and feel good about it, and what do I do when I feel good? I eat. Then next thing you know, some picture comes out of me and I've got three chins."
While you may find some of the other members of the Sexiest Men Alive club walking around naked or topless, Blake isn't a fan of stripping down to his birthday suit. "No! Oh, Christ, I wouldn't do that to anybody," he joked. "I wouldn't want my dog to have to see me naked. It's like half-melted vanilla ice cream with little hairs stuck to it. That's what I look like naked."
Great visual, Blake!
While the "The Voice" judge seems to have a sense of humor about it all, he admitted to Ellen DeGeneres that he's basically been fat-shamed his whole life. "You know, I said this in the magazine — when I did my interview for Sexiest Man Alive — that I'd been fat and ugly my whole life, and if only for one year I get to be sexy, I'm going to milk this for everything that it's worth," he told the talk-show host.
Then he did something totally kick-ass from backstage. Snapping back at his haters, he hilariously read a bunch of mean tweets about himself in a video, posting it on Instagram along with the hashtag #DontHateMeBecauseImBeautiful.
Shelton's biggest supporter is his girlfriend, Gwen Stefani, who raises an interesting argument about what really defines sexy. "He's perfect for it," she told People. "Somebody that is funny and has a sense of humor is sexy — that's the No. 1 thing."
In addition, Gwen points out that he's at the top of his game, talented, genuine, cool, generous and "just not self-aware at all — completely a man." It's Blake's heart — not his looks — that make him sexy to her. "It's interesting because I don't think any of those things like beauty or sexy or whatever way you want to describe humans is necessarily a physical thing that people are attracted to," Stefani said. "It's all about the heart, and he has that big ol' gigantic heart in there, so he's quite an attractive human. I'm not the only one that thinks it!"
Blake isn't the only male Hollywood star to be body-shamed this year. Back in March, Chris Pratt was criticized for being "skeletal" and NFL quarterback Jay Cutler was trolled for looking "flabby" in a social media photo posted by his wife, Kristin Cavallari.
Neither women nor men should have to abide by a universal definition of sexy. Just because someone isn't thin as a rail or they don't have a six-pack doesn't mean they should be excluded from the title. While society has made great strides recently to encourage body positivity, this is a reminder we aren't quite there yet.
Read more: Ruby Rose, Kim Kardashian and 20 Other Celebs' Great Responses to Body Shaming
What Do YOU Think?
Should Blake Shelton have been chosen as People's Sexiest Man Alive? What do you think makes someone sexy? Does it have more to do with their looks, or is it primarily about the personality?