Each year People Magazine has a competition to name one male celebrity as the sexiest man alive. Nearly 9 years ago, The Voice‘s Blake Shelton was given this honor, and he celebrated it by rubbing it in Adam Levine’s face.
Blake Shelton Won ‘Sexiest Man Alive’ in 2017
As an extension of The Voice‘s widespread popularity, Shelton was nominated and ultimately won the award of Sexiest Man alive in 2017. In typical Shelton style, his immediate reaction to the news was to joke about it.
“Y’all must be running out of people,” he said to the outlet in 2017. “Like, Wow, we’re down to somebody who is somewhat symmetrical.”
At the time, the 41 year old credited his girlfriend of two years Gwen Stefani for convincing him to embrace the title. Recalling the moment, he stated “she goes, ‘Listen to me, you’re going to regret this for the rest of your life if you don’t take this gift and just live in the moment.'”
Of course, Shelton’s mind was completely made up when he realized he could incentivize his win as a jab at fellow The Voice coach Adam Levine. Levine won the same award in 2013, but as every longtime fan of The Voice knows, Shelton would do anything to make a jab at his fellow coach.
“I can’t wait to shove this up Adam’s ass,” Shelton said at the time. “As proud as I am and honored that you guys asked me, that’s really the only thing I care about.”
The award announcement concluded with Shelton discussing how he remains sexy. He was 41 at the time of winning and explained he tries to stay in shape by exercising on the treadmill and eating as healthy as possible. That being said, Shelton is also incredibly human and admitted he can’t turn down the opportunity to head to Sonic for jalapeno poppers.
What is Shelton up to in 2026?
In current day, Shelton is 50 years old and is still living in Tishomingo, Oklahoma. He is still together with Gwen Stefani, whom he’s now been married to for 5 years. In 2026, Shelton released a single titled “Let Him in Anyway,” following his prior 2025 releases “Hangin’ On,” “Stay Country or Die Tryin'” and “Mayberry.”
Shelton has 9.5 million monthly listeners on Spotify and is set to perform at Chase Field in Phoenix, AZ on November, 14, 2026. He also returned toThe Voice recently for the show’s 30th season celebration, which aired earlier this season.
Fans are hoping to see Shelton return to The Voice as a coach in the future. The Voice currently airs new episodes on NBC on Monday nights.
Words by:
Corey Cesare Corey Cesare is Talent Recap's Managing Editor and featured YouTube Host. She has a love of all things pop culture and an unhealthy obsession with celebrities. Corey earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Cinema/Screen Studies from the State University of New York at Oswego in 2021. She spends her spare time shooting astro, nature, and portrait photography, and coming up with movie ideas that she hopes to make into a film someday.
