Patrick Dempsey is PEOPLE‘s Sexiest Man Alive for 2023. The 57-year-old actor, whose breakthrough in 1987’s Can’t Buy Me Love was just a precursor to his most iconic role as Dr. Derek Shepherd on Grey’s Anatomy, has earned the publication’s honor ahead of his appearance in the Michael Mann-directed biopic Ferrari, in which Dempsey plays Italian driver Piero Taruffi.
Dempsey, who is husband to wife Jillian, 57, and father to Talula, 21, and 16-year-old twins Sullivan and Darby, told PEOPLE he was “completely shocked” when he first learned he’d been given the honor, joking that he’s “always been the bridesmaid” when it comes to the numerous appearances he’s made in the Sexiest Man Alive issue of the magazine over the years, but never as the main honoree. “I’d completely forgotten about it and never even contemplated being in this position,” he continued. “So my ego is good.”
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Dempsey’s win was revealed by late-night host Jimmy Kimmel during his talk show Tuesday, as audience members attempted to guess the identity of the Sexiest Man Alive by asking the mystery star questions to decipher which celebrity he might be. While guesses of Timothée Chalamet, Harry Styles, and even “Taylor Swift’s boyfriend” Travis Kelce were prominent, Kimmel gave a telling hint that helped redirect viewers, telling them the Sexiest Man Alive was a “star of one of the most popular television series of all time” and “played a doctor.”
While George Clooney’s name was first to be thrown out, as the former Sexiest Man Alive played Dr. Doug Ross on ER in the ’90s, eventually someone guessed, “Are you Dr. McDreamy?” Dempsey joked to Kimmel after the reveal, “Never give up on a dream,” adding that his family had cracked up when he told them the news. “They laughed, quite hard,” he admitted. “They were like, ‘No, seriously, who is it?’”
The Enchanted actor told PEOPLE of the honor, “I’m glad it’s happening at this point in my life. 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.” Dempsey revealed that the cause closest to his heart is the Dempsey Center, which he founded in honor of his late mother to support cancer patients and their loved ones.
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