Jonathan Bailey is the name on everyone’s lips this week, after he was crowned People’s Sexiest Man Alive for 2025.
Speaking to People in the accompanying cover story, the 37-year-old English actor said: “It’s a huge honour. Obviously I’m incredibly flattered. And it’s completely absurd.”
He’s not only added his name to a coveted list alongside the likes of Brad Pitt, Channing Tatum, Chris Hemsworth and David Beckham, but he also made history with the win.
Bailey is the first openly gay man to receive the annual title.
The actor has recently dominated the spotlight with his role playing Fiyero in Wicked and Wicked For Good.
But earlier this year one cheeky little quip in an interview about his other big role for 2025 had everyone talking.
“It’s slutty little everything these days, isn’t it?”
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That’s the direct quote from Bailey, one of the stars of the latest Jurassic World film who’s gone viral, all thanks to a singular pair of glasses.
Now, you might be confused about how a star and journalist got onto the topic of “slutty little everything” at a movie premiere, but let us explain.
Bailey became the star of the Jurassic World: Rebirth press tour earlier this year, appearing at premieres and in interviews alongside co-star Scarlett Johansson.
While Johansson’s name undeniably holds more star power, it’s Bailey who has everyone talking, and it’s all because of his spectacles.
The actor stars in the film as Dr. Henry Loomis, a paleontologist who, of course, wears a pair of small, thin-framed glasses.
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There’s nothing inherently “slutty” about the glasses themselves; rather, it seems fans have come to use that word due to the way Bailey wears them.
But to understand fully, we have to look back at how and when Bailey rose to fame.
Bailey has been acting since he was seven, making his debut with The Royal Shakespeare Company as both Tiny Tim and Young Scrooge in A Christmas Carol.
It wasn’t until 2004 that a 16-year-old Bailey made his on-screen debut as Cyril in the children’s movie Five Children and It, landing his next role as Leonardo da Vinci in the 2011 CBBC series Leonardo.
While many had seen his face at this point, very few knew his name.
It wasn’t until he was cast as Olly Stevens in UK TV series Broadchurch that he began to gain some notoriety.
From there came a slew of theatre roles for Bailey, alongside a featured role in TV series W1A and and a lead in Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s ensemble comedy, Crashing.
While all the roles Bailey took on were widely different, one thing remained the same throughout: the unique, and irresistible, charm he brought to every character.
It was quite possible that charm and charisma is what saw him cast as one of the leads of Netflix’s hit Bridgerton.
Bailey’s role as eldest sibling Anthony Bridgerton back in 2020 is arguably where his takeover of Hollywood began.
When season two rolled around and the spotlight moved to Anthony’s story, fans around the world fell in love with the character – but moreso it was Bailey himself people had an affinity for.
“The Bridgerton of it all is really interesting, because it’s one thing to be on a show that is national, but I feel like I was more recognised outside of the UK than in the UK,” he told Elle in a 2024 interview.
“It takes time to adjust to, it really does. It’s not an easy thing, but it also is amazing.”
It’s hard to deny Bailey is objectively a good-looking man, but it seems there’s more to his appeal than looks.
At the risk of a generalisation, there probably aren’t too many men in Hollywood who would embrace being dubbed the king of “slutty little everything”, but Bailey takes it in his stride, all while remaining his cheeky, charismatic and humble self.
In 2024, he made his blockbuster debut as Fiyero in Wicked, proving to the world that not only can Bailey act and handle himself with grace and humour on a press tour, he can also sing and dance.
It was at this point the world was left asking, “What can’t Jonathan Bailey do?”
Then, we were presented with a talent we didn’t even know a person could possess.
When the first Jurassic World Rebirth trailer was released, the internet ran wild with screenshots of Bailey, charisma and charm oozing through the wire frames of his character’s glasses – and a catchphrase was born.
Now, we could go on and on forever with the amount of posts about Bailey and his glasses, but it’s not the title itself that has catapulted the actor to worldwide fame – rather, it’s the way he’s reacted to it.
It seems the world can’t get enough of Bailey and his cheeky British accent leaning into the joke started by fans.
In an interview with Extra TV he explained internet personality Blakely Thornton was the one to coin the term, which Bailey referred to as an “optical phenomena”.
When asked by the interviewer if the glasses only become “slutty” when Bailey puts them on, he responds without missing a beat and a smirk on his face, “Well, it depends how much of a slut you are.”
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In a red carpet interview with Entertainment Tonight, the star said he’s “thrilled” people are “having a hormonal explosion linked to optical support”.
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Stepping out at a Jurassic World Rebirth premiere in a pair of Tabi Margielas an E! News journalist said to the star, “You know what they’re gonna say on the internet about this? ‘Jonathan and his slutty little shoes’.”
“Well it’s a slutty little everything these days, isn’t it?” the actor laughed.
So, at least for now, it seems it is indeed Jonathan Bailey’s “slutty little” world and the rest of us are simply living in it.
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