Idris Elba has been named People’s Sexiest Man Alive 2018. And the Luther actor, who has been widely tipped to take over the role of James Bond, admitted the honour was a boost to his ego.
Speaking about his new title, the 46-year-old revealed that, after being ‘picked on’ as a kid, it was a ‘nice surprise’. He explained: ‘I was like, “Come on, no way. Really?” Looked in the mirror, I checked myself out. I was like, “Yeah, you are kind of sexy today”.
‘But to be honest, it was just a nice feeling. It was a nice surprise — an ego boost for sure.’ It’s definitely something to update your LinkedIn profile about, that’s for definite. He also opened up about his ‘awkward phase’, which he snapped out of the second he grew some facial hair. ‘I was very tall and skinny. And my name was Idrissa Akuna Elba, okay? I got picked on a little bit,’ he continued to the publication. ‘But as soon as I could grow a moustache, I was the coolest kid on the block. Grew a moustache, had some muscles, bonkers.’ And now he’s been named the Sexiest Man Alive and tipped to play James, so take that, bullies. But if Idris lands the role, he won’t be the first 007 actor to take People’s accolade, with Pierce Brosnan being named Sexiest Man for 2001.