Patrick Dempsey was revealed as People’s 2023 sexiest man alive during the Nov. 7 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where the Grey’s Anatomy star made an appearance during the late-night show via Proto hologram.
“I’m glad it’s happening at this point in my life,” the 57-year-old Patrick Dempsey told People in the cover story. “It’s nice to have the recognition, and certainly my ego takes a little bump, but it gives me the platform to use it for something positive.”
Patrick Dempsey joked that he was “shocked” to officially land the honour—which comes 20 years after he captured hearts on the ABC medical drama.
“I started laughing, like, this is a joke, right? I’ve always been the bridesmaid!” the Enchanted star said. “I’d completely forgotten about it and never even contemplated being in this position. So my ego is good.”
Patrick Dempsey noted that his kids—Talula, 21, and Darby and Sullivan, 16, who he shares with wife Jillian Fink—are going to keep him humble, saying they’re “just going to make fun of me and pick on me and figure out every reason why I shouldn’t be.” He added, “Which is good, they keep me young.”
The actor dethroned the 2022 winner, Avengers star Chris Evans, who upon receiving the marvelous title, thought of one person immediately.
“My mom will be so happy,” Chris told the outlet in November 2022. “She’s proud of everything I do but this is something she can really brag about.”
As for his personal bragging rights?
“It feels like a weird form of humble bragging,” he shared, predicting rightfully that “this will just be a point of bullying,” and he’ll be “ripe for harassment” from his fellow costars.
Sure enough, Chris Hemsworth (who was bestowed with the honor in 2014) revealed that he and his fellow MCU actors including Robert Downey Jr. and Jeremy Renner assembled to troll the Captain America star in their group chat, especially when it came to his cover photo.
“We have an Avengers text chain and it very quickly was like what are you doing with your hands back there,” the Thor actor said during a 2022 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. “Downey said he’s being arrested, I said beautiful mug shot and Jeremy Renner said a series of things, which I won’t repeat.”
Last year, the Gray Man actor became the latest Marvel star that had the title as their endgame, with fellow Avenger Paul Rudd nabbing the honor in 2021 and Black Panther star Michael B. Jordan earning the accolade in 2020.