This week, John Legend was named PEOPLE‘s Sexiest Man Alive, an achievement he now shares with his fellow The Voice judge Blake Shelton, who was awarded the honor in 2017. Naturally, Shelton has a few words of advice for his friend, which he shared with Entertainment Tonight at the CMA Awards in Nashville this week.
“I’m the one that broke the news to him on The Voice as a former sexy guy,” the “God’s Country” singer said. “I told him afterwards, I said, ‘Hey man, listen. After this announcement comes out, wait about two weeks before you look at social media. Because everybody that ever hated you is gonna have something to say about it.’”
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Legend’s wife, Chrissy Teigen, expressed a slightly opposite sentiment on Twitter after the news was revealed, writing, “I cannot WAIT for people to get mad about John being the sexiest man alive. it’s my new Starbucks holiday cup.”
“no don’t send it to me please,” she added in a follow-up tweet. “I like to see these people naturally, in the wild.”
Shelton was the one to officially announce Legend’s new title on Tuesday night’s episode of The Voice, gifting the father of two with a pair of denim shorts bedazzled with “VEGOTSMA” across the back.
“As you may remember, I was the 2017 PEOPLE Magazine Sexiest Man Alive,” Shelton told the audience. “Because of that, it is my duty to formally introduce the next Sexiest Man Alive, and he just so happens to be here tonight. Ladies and gentlemen, the man, the myth, the legend! 2019 People Magazine Sexiest Man Alive, John Legend!”
“You already came into this show as an EGOT,” he continued, referencing Legend’s Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony wins. “Then you won The Voice so it became a VEGOT. Now you have a ‘VEGOTSMA.’ You’re the only one.”
Legend proudly accepted his gift and offered his sincere thanks to both PEOPLE and his fellow coach.
“I don’t know what to say. I want to thank, of course, PEOPLE magazine, but mostly I want to thank Blake Shelton, because I sat next to him for the last few months and I learned his sexy ways,” he said. “I observed every move he made, every utterance that came from his mouth and I think some of it rubbed off on me. I think that has everything to do with why we’re here today.”
Photo Credit: Getty / NBC
