Jimmy Kimmel Reveals Patrick Dempsey as PEOPLE's 2023 Sexiest Man Alive

On Tuesday's episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live," Dempsey opens up to the late night host about nabbing this year's big honor

Patrick Dempsey is PEOPLE's Sexiest Man Alive 2023 — and he broke the big news with help from Jimmy Kimmel.

The reveal happened on Tuesday's episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where the 57-year-old actor was beamed on to the stage using Proto hologram technology.

Kimmel kicked off the reveal by telling viewers he is a "huge fan of sexy men who are alive," before pointing out the hologram box containing a projection of Dempsey, whose face was swapped out for a lizard's head. His voice was also changed.

Dempsey then answered yes or no questions from the audience about his identity, confirming quickly that he is a married actor who was born in America. Dempsey demurred, though, about his sexiness compared to Kimmel, asserting that the late-night host is better looking.

Early audience guesses were Timothée Chalamet, Harry Styles and Travis Kelce, before they began to narrow it down by age. After a hint from Kimmel that the 2023 Sexiest Man Alive starred in "one of the most popular television series of all time," there was a winning guess from an audience member named Keith, who correctly questioned if the honoree was "Dr. McDreamy."

Later, during his in-person sit-down with Kimmel, Dempsey said, simply, "I'm just happy they made a decision and it was me this year."

Related: Patrick Dempsey's Hottest Throwback Photos

The host noted previous times the actor had made the PEOPLE Sexiest Man Alive cover as a secondary image to a former honoree, and — after sharing this year's shoot — told Dempsey, "Here you are with the whole cover to yourself."

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During the late-night appearance, Dempsey chatted about his prep work for the shoot, jokingly calling it a "sacrifice." He said, "I fasted and went to the gym."

Dempsey also spoke about his love for motorsports, before sharing his efforts to make life better for people impacted by cancer through the Dempsey Center in Maine, his home state.

"We don't treat the disease, we treat the person," he explained, noting that the counseling, nutrition and mindfulness services the center offers to cancer patients is of "no cost to them" — and done in honor of Dempsey's late mother, Amanda Dempsey.

When Dempsey found out he'd been tapped for the Sexiest Man Alive gig this year, he tells PEOPLE in this week's cover story that he thought, "This is a joke right?"

But joke it is not, so when reality set in, the actor and father of three reflected that he's "glad it’s happening at this point in my life."

Related: All the Sexiest Man Alive Covers

As Dempsey celebrates the upcoming release of his movie, the Michael Mann–directed biopic Ferrari (which received an interim agreement from SAG-AFTRA amid the actors' strike), out on Christmas, he's reflecting on his journey through Hollywood — all with wife Jillian Dempsey by his side.

Life now, he summarizes, is "Good — great. Grateful. Fantastic. Sexy. Hot. Exciting. Never stops being exciting, just the way it is."

For more on 2023's Sexiest Man Alive, pick up this week's issue of People, on newsstands Friday.

Tuesday was not Kimmel's first time announcing the honor — he last did so in 2020 when Michael B. Jordan was named SMA.

Jimmy Kimmel Live airs weekdays at 11:35 p.m. ET on ABC.

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