38 men who were worthy competitors for John Legend's Sexiest Man Alive title

ryan gosling donald glover paul rudd

On November 12, John Legend was announced as People's Sexiest Man Alive in 2019.
However, not everyone was happy about it.
We've found 38 other supremely sexy guys that were worthy competitors for the title this year.
Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

There you have it. According to People, the Sexiest Man Alive this year is John Legend. While you might be happy about it, there are plenty of people who disagree with that choice — People doesn't always impress readers with its selections.

We created a list of 38 other handsome men who easily could have been named the Sexiest Man Alive this year, from Jake Gyllenhaal to Jason Momoa to Harry Styles.

Keep scrolling to see our picks for this year.

Michael B. Jordan has been making us swoon since his days on "Friday Night Lights."

Between "Creed,""Black Panther,""Raising Dion," and his upcoming legal drama "Just Mercy," Jordan, 32, has been having a stellar couple of years. He charmingly said that Zendaya wore the same suit better than he did, consistently takes fashion risks— and did we mention he bought his parents a house?

At this point, it's just blasphemous that Ryan Gosling has never been granted the title.

It's shocking that he's never won — not after "The Notebook," not after "Crazy Stupid Love," not after "La La Land," and not after the "Hey Girl" meme went viral.

According to ET, the 38-year-old has actually turned it down before, but that humility only adds to the sexy vibe.

After co-chairing the Met Gala, releasing a supremely sexy music video, and announcing his second album, Harry Styles has taken over 2019.

The 25-year-old former boybander has completely shed his One Direction skin. In a revealing Rolling Stone profile, Styles stated that his upcoming album, "Fine Line," is "all about having sex and feeling sad."

Styles is definitely redefining what it means to be "sexy" in 2019, by challenging masculinity and gender norms through his fashion.

Dev Patel stole the show in his episode of "Modern Love," and his hair deserves awards of its own.

Besides his episode of "Modern Love," which People ranked as the best episode of the season, Patel, 29, also took on the role of David Copperfield in "The Personal History of David Copperfield," which will be released in 2020 — though it received rave reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival.

And we already mentioned his hair.

Robert Downey Jr. concluded a 10-year run as Iron Man this year, and it's high time he was recognized for his sexiness.

As proof that some things only get better with age, 54-year-old Downey is arguably at the peak of his powers right now. He broke all our hearts in "Endgame,"generated some Oscar buzz, and is potentially turning into Tony Stark in real life?

Simply, we love him 3,000.

Will Smith is another shocking Sexiest Man Alive snub.

Smith had the unenviable job of taking over one of Robin Williams' most beloved roles this summer when he starred as the Genie in the live-action remake of "Aladdin." But to his credit, Smith did a pretty good job, and made the role his own. Even though his newest film, "Gemini Man"was a flop, it still hasn't reduced his number of fans.

The 51-year-old is also an extremely wholesome presence on Instagram, and he is smartly using nostalgia to his advantage by releasing a fashion collection inspired by"Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." Nothing sexier than a man who's business savvy, we say.

Chris Evans also wrapped up a years-long journey as Captain America, and he still has two more movies coming out this year.

Evans, 38, also had a banner year for sexiness. Captain America got to save the universe, wield Mjolnir, and managed to get the girl in the end.

The "Knives Out" star also regularly has the internet swooning with his epic clapbacks on Twitter and his extremely pure love for dogs.

Jake Gyllenhaal's chaotic energy during the "Spider-Man Far From Home" press tour reminded everyone why we love him so much.

Gyllenhaal is another almost unbelievable snub in the Sexiest Man Alive canon. He's been a favorite since 2001's "Donnie Darko," for crying out loud! But 2019 really was his year. The 38-year-old starred in the Netflix thriller "Velvet Buzzsaw," slayed on Instagram, and joined the decade's biggest franchise.

But, we'd be remiss not to mention the press tour for "Far From Home," and the subsequent bromance that sprouted between Gyllenhaal and his co-star Tom Holland. We could watch interviews of them for hours.

Keanu Reeves was retroactively named 1994's Sexiest Man Alive, but we think he deserves the 2019 honor for real.

As per usual, Reeves, 55, was one of the most beloved celebrities this year, from his hilarious cameo in "Always Be My Maybe," to his role in "Toy Story 4," to his third go-around as assassin with a heart, John Wick. We're already counting down the days until he reprises his role of Neo in the upcoming fourth "Matrix" movie.

He's just an overall great person, and for that, he should be recognized.

Rami Malek is officially a heartthrob.

Though Malek, 38, has been a leading man for quite some time due to his role on "Mr. Robot," when he took on the role of Freddie Mercury for Queen biopic "Bohemian Rhapsody," it catapulted him to a new level of stardom.

But as far back as 2016, Malek found it "a bit awkward" to be considered a sex symbol.

Shawn Mendes has been hard to avoid this year, from his hit songs to his PDA-filled romance with Camila Cabello.

As his fans would tell you, 21-year-old Mendes has been sexy to them for years, but this year he really broke out of his teen idol status and solidified his status as an adult artist. His music video for "Señorita" is borderline NSFW, especially when you take into account that it's co-starring his real girlfriend, Cabello.

Their IRL chemistry was so intense that it had fellow celebrities chanting for them to make out during their performance at the VMAs.

Henry Golding had a breakout year in 2018, and he has continued to charm us in 2019.

After stealing our hearts in "Crazy Rich Asians," Golding will continue to prove his rom-com leading man chops in "Last Christmas" alongside Emilia Clarke.

Winston Duke became extremely popular after "Black Panther" and "Us."

Duke added some much-needed comic relief during Jordan Peele's latest horror film, "Us." Handsome and funny? The 32-year-old easily deserves the Sexiest Man Alive title.

Duke was also recently cast in the Apple TV Plus series, "Swagger," so we can expect much more of him in 2020.

Andrew Scott set the world on fire this year with his role as the so-called "Hot Priest" in "Fleabag."

Scott was inescapable this year after the critically adored second season of "Fleabag" hit Amazon. His character inspired dozens of thinkpieces asking the same question: Why are we all so obsessed with Hot Priest?

The 43-year-old continued to enchant us with appearances in "Black Mirror" and "Modern Love," and the news of his casting in the second season of "His Dark Materials" and an upcoming adaptation of"The Talented Mr. Ripley" only added to the Hot Priest-mania.

Collectively, BTS is the biggest boy band in the world right now.

Even though they're ostensibly on a break right now, BTS didn't show any signs of slowing down this year. The five members, RM, Jungkook, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, and V, have taken over pop music.

They're one of the first K-pop groups to breakthrough in the US. In 2019 alone, they attended the Grammys for the first time, became the first Korean group to perform on "Saturday Night Live," collaborated with American pop stars like Halsey, Charli XCX, Nicki Minaj, and Juice WRLD, and earned their second top 10 on the Ho 100.

Of course, their ravenous fanbase, called ARMY, would claim that they've been the Sexiest Men Alive for quite some time.

Paul Rudd is certainly making us feel things with his new long hair and beard.

There's an entire meme dedicated to how Rudd, 50, simply does not age. He looks the same as he did during 1995's "Clueless."

And after the success of the "Ant-Man"movies, it's clear that Rudd knows how to bulk up. Funny, jacked, and a great actor? Rudd easily deserves the title.

Mena Massoud brought one of the hottest animated characters — sorry, but it's true — to life when he played the titular role in "Aladdin" this summer.

Massoud didn't have as hard a job as Will Smith playing the Genie, but taking on the mantle of Aladdin is no small feat. As Insider's Kirsten Acuna wrote, Massoud is "the perfect Aladdin," and "any time Massoud sings, it feels as if you're watching the animated movie brought to life."

You can catch more of the 28-year-old in the upcoming Hulu series "Reprisal," which is set to debut in December.

When Travis Scott released his documentary "Look Mom I Can Fly," fans saw a whole new side of the rapper.

Thanks to now-ex-girlfriend Kylie Jenner, we all saw that Scott is a big romantic, from filling Jenner's entire home with rose petals for her birthday to buying her a potentially $500,000 diamond necklace.

In "Look Mom I Can Fly," there was no shortage of adorable moments between the 27-year-old rapper, Jenner, and their daughter Stormi. As many would say, good parenting = sexy.

If you're not totally in tune with Latin music, you may not know Maluma yet, but it's only a matter of time.

The 25-year-old singer hails from Colombia, and he recently released his fourth album this year, "11:11." It topped the US Latin Charts and reached 30 on the Billboard 200.

Mainstream audiences will get more exposure to Maluma in 2020, when he appears in the upcoming Jennifer Lopez film, "Marry Me." But People could have been ahead of the curve by picking Maluma this year.

Chris Messina really kicked it up a notch when he debuted a platinum dye job on the Golden Globes red carpet in January.

Not everyone can rock platinum blonde — but Messina sure can. His new hair color had people everywhere demanding that he be included in the "Hollywood Chris" ranking.

Though fans of "The Mindy Project" and "Sharp Objects" already knew that Messina, 45, was a bona fide heartthrob, 2019 may be the year he finally broke through. But if not, there's always his 2020 role in the Harley Quinn movie, "Birds of Prey."

The thirst for Timothée Chalamet showed no signs of slowing down this year.

The love for 23-year-old Chalamet only grows as he continues to star in prestige movies, and as he continues to take fashion risks. He continued to bless us with a sparkly hoodie and a "silky silver suit" during the premieres of his new Netflix film, "The King."

What else proves that Chalamet inspires a semi-unhinged fervor amongst fans? When the first stills from the upcoming "Little Women" remake were released, filled with powerhouse actresses like Meryl Streep, Laura Dern, Saoirse Ronan, and Emma Watson, all anyone could talk about was Timmy.

The entire cast of "Queer Eye," known collectively as the Fab Five, prove that it's sexy to be kind.

The Fab Five are only growing their reach, as evidenced by the latest batch of episodes that see them heading to Japan to help a new group of "heroes."

From taking fashion risks and shedding light on the HIV-positive community to helping people find love again, these five are a much-needed dose of good vibes in 2019.

New dad Prince Harry makes us swoon whenever he stands up for his wife, Meghan Markle.

Standing up to the British tabloids after they came for his wife, becoming a dad to a cute baby, and consistently breaking royal protocol all add up to a banner year for 35-year-old Prince Harry's hotness.

Jason Momoa proves that long hair done right can be very hot.

Even Helen Mirren is unable to resist how "gorgeous" the 40-year-old "Aquaman" star is. Between his luscious locks, his beard, his shredded body, and his wonderful sense of humor, we think her Momoa obsession is very relatable.

Taron Egerton showed off his musical chops when he played Elton John in "Rocketman."

Egerton made a pretty sexy version of John when he played the pop icon this summer. The 29-year-old even went out on stage and sang with the real John for a duet of "Your Song" during John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" tour in June.

Though, true Egerton heads know that he's been a heartthrob since 2014's "Kingsman: The Secret Service."

Egerton's "Rocketman" co-star Richard Madden equally deserves the honor.

Madden, 33, is out here proving that a simple silver streak in your hair can elevate your look to new heights of sexiness. He kicked off 2019 by winning a Golden Globe for his performance in "The Bodyguard," and ended it by beginning to shoot his Marvel debut, "The Eternals."

It was another year of Donald Glover proving that he's a triple-threat.

The 36-year-old multi-hyphenate wrote, produced, and starred in the Amazon movie "Guava Island" alongside Rihanna, and acted and sang in the 2019 live-action remake of "The Lion King" alongside Beyoncé — two of the most iconic artists of this decade. A banner year for Childish Gambino, we think.

Milo Ventimiglia makes us swoon and cry every week on "This Is Us."

Ventimiglia, 42, makes a mustache look hot, and for that we are eternally grateful.

In 2019, Mahershala Ali earned his second Oscar, starred in "True Detective" and revealed he'd be joining the MCU in a big way: taking over for Wesley Snipes and starring in "Blade."

Ali's giant smile is infectious, and his voice is supremely smooth and soothing. What else can you ask from the Sexiest Man Alive? And, it's becoming clear that Ali, 45, is only going to get better with time.

Robert Pattinson made waves when it was announced he was cast as the next Batman.

For years now, Pattinson, 33, has been quietly proving that he is an actor to be reckoned with, avoiding giant blockbusters after "Twilight" and picking eclectic roles and directors to work with.

All that went out the window he was chosen to take over the cape and cowl and play Batman in the upcoming 2020 movie. But are we complaining? No. It only means that we'll get more of his hilarious interviews, his artfully disheveled hair, and his very cute crooked smile.

Lakeith Stanfield is hard to look away from when he's on screen.

Whether it's in "Sorry to Bother You,""Someone Great,""Atlanta," or "Get Out," Stanfield is magnetic presence on screen. The 28-year-old is set to finish out the year in a big way too, with highly anticipated roles in "Uncut Gems" and "Knives Out."

This year was undeniably the year of the Jonas Brothers, all of whom are supremely attractive.

This year kicked off with the Jonas Brothers releasing their first single in years, "Sucker," which also happened to be their first No. 1 song ever. They embarked on an extremely successful tour, Joe got married to "Game of Thrones" star Sophie Turner, their comeback album earned positive reviews, and they reminded the entire world that, yes, the Jonas Brothers have grown up and become extremely hot.

Never have we ever seen a Bachelor Nation member transcend their reality TV roots like fan-favorite Tyler Cameron.

If you don't watch "The Bachelor" and its multitudinous spin-offs, you might not know who Cameron is. But if you know, you know.

Cameron quickly won over "Bachelor" fans and had them all screaming at their TVs in horror when Hannah B. picked Jed Wyatt over 26-year-old Cameron. He's got everything: model-good looks, a clear devotion to his family, and an undying love for cookies. Not even Gigi Hadid could resist.

Troye Sivan has been on tour for the past year supporting what Out Magazine called "his sex album."

While the 24-year-old isn't afraid to sing about his sexuality and personal experiences on "Bloom," that doesn't mean that he's okay with his privacy getting invaded. He called out an interviewer for asking him invasive questions that he wasn't OK with answering. Not being afraid to stand up for yourself? Extremely attractive.

Randall Park earned his rom-com chops this year in "Always Be My Maybe."

Park, 45, has been killing it on "Fresh Off the Boat" for years, but opposite Ali Wong in "Always Be My Maybe," he got to be the romantic lead, not solely the comic relief or dad. And we all are very grateful for that.

Christian Bale is long overdue for his Sexiest Man Alive honor.

Though Bale was decidedly un-sexy as Dick Cheney in "Vice," we can all clearly see he bounced back for awards season and for "Ford v Ferrari"— and comeback stories are the best kind of stories. The 45-year-old has been making our hearts flutter since he starred in the 1994 version of "Little Women," in the same role that fellow sexy person Timothée Chalamet will take over this year.

Oscar Isaac has been declared a "short king" by the internet.

A short king for those who don't know, is just any man who is short, according to Mel Magazine. It's relatively similar to the "BDE" phenomenon that took over last summer.

A quick search on Twitter of "Oscar Isaac short king," yields thousands of tweets. So give this 40-year-old short king what he deserves right before his last "Star Wars" movie premieres, and declare him the Sexiest Man Alive.

Noah Centineo is the internet's latest boyfriend.

Centineo, 23, continues to captivate us with his "profound" tweets, his adventures in showering with a cast, confusingly bleaching his beard, and starring in the upcoming "Charlie's Angels" movie.

We're still not over Peter Kavinsky, and thankfully, we only have a few more months to go before "To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You" is released on Netflix.