Fans divided as star, 55, crowned sexiest man alive
- Oct 30, 2026
He first made hearts race in scrubs more than 30 years ago.
Now it's official: he's the sexiest man on the planet.
People magazine has crowned The Pitt star Noah Wyle its Sexiest Man Alive for 2026, with a cover line playing on his doctor role: No Second Opinion Needed.
The 55-year-old, who played Dr. John Carter on ER, won the Emmy for lead actor in a drama in September for playing The Pitt's Dr. Robby.
And not everyone is on board.
Fans are divided
"Out of all of the people in the world…this is who you pick? You've got to be kidding," one fan wrote online, Fox News reported. Another said he is "not even the sexiest in that show".
Others said Patrick Dempsey, Dean Cain or last year's winner Jonathan Bailey deserved it more.
But plenty of fans were thrilled. "This is actually an incredible win for anyone who grew up watching ER," one wrote. Another called him "the whole damn package".
Wyle himself thought the call was a prank. "Just not in a million years did I think that this would be an honor bestowed on me," he told People.
His wife, Sara Wells, is the reason he said yes. "She was very pleased that this reflects well on her taste," he said.
His son was less keen. "My son is super practical. He was like, 'Oh, this is going to make my life so much harder now,'" Wyle said.
And he expects a lot of ribbing. "I hope it's just wine and roses, milk and honey from here on out. [Laughs] No, I don't, but I am going to take a lot of ribbing from friends and family for sure."
As for his old ER co-star George Clooney: "I think he'll be amused and feel, hopefully, like a proud papa, that I've come of gray-haired age."
At 55, Wyle is the third-oldest man to take the title, behind only Sean Connery, who was 59 in 1989, and Patrick Dempsey, who was 57 in 2023.
The bookies saw it coming
Wyle was the runaway favourite going into the reveal. Here's how UK bookmakers priced the field as of Oct. 22, according to OLBG.
| # | Star | Odds | Implied chance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Noah Wyle | 1/3 | 75% |
| 2 | Bad Bunny | 6/4 | 40% |
| 3 | Connor Storrie | 3/1 | 25% |
| 4 | Hudson Williams | 3/1 | 25% |
| 5 | Tom Holland | 4/1 | 20% |
| 6 | Jacob Elordi | 4/1 | 20% |
| 7 | Michael B. Jordan | 6/1 | 14% |
| 8 | Timothée Chalamet | 6/1 | 14% |
| 9 | Harry Styles | 8/1 | 11% |
UK bookmakers via OLBG, Oct. 22. Percentages are implied by the odds.
Runner-up favourite Bad Bunny will have to wait another year.
The last seven winners: Jonathan Bailey (2025), John Krasinski (2024), Patrick Dempsey (2023), Chris Evans (2022), Paul Rudd (2021), Michael B. Jordan (2020) and John Legend (2019).
