Ryan Gosling, you were robbed - even People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive Bradley Cooper thinks so. Kinda.
During an appearance on The Graham Norton Show over the weekend, the Hangover star - who recently won the coveted title over fan favourite Gosling - acknowledged the backlash that erupted after People mag bestowed the honour on him.
Days after Cooper was announced as this year's title holder, hordes of Gosling's fans rocked up outside the mag's New York offices, branding placards that read "Ryan's abs are proof enough" and "Ryan was robbed".
And then there's the online petition, aptly-titled, People Magazine: Admit Ryan Gosling should have been named Sexiest Man Alive 2011.
"We believe People Magazine made a huge mistake by choosing Bradley Cooper as the 2011 Sexiest Man Alive 2011 was clearly the year of Ryan Gosling," reads the petition, which has so far bagged 5152 signatures, "and we demand that People Magazine give Ryan his own magazine cover. Together, we can right this wrong".
"There was such a backlash to when they announced it and Ryan Gosling, who I love and I just did a movie with him - he's the greatest," said Cooper, who claimed a "friend" sent him a link to a website comparing pap snaps of him and Gosling.
"When I say friend, I mean me, alone in my room, looking at the computer," Cooper joked. "And it's like him walking around and he literally looks like he's in a photo shoot, like he just came off the runway.
"And there's ones of me, and I literally look like the neighbour who never really comes out of his house, and when he does, you're like, 'Maybe you should just stay in. We don't know what he does in there!' So it's been interesting."
Cooper - who previously dated Renee Zellweger - also jokingly called being named the Sexiest Man, "the worst," adding, "it's just so awful".
"I'm finally at an age - I'm 36 years old - where I really don't care about anything like that anymore, which is a wonderful thing and then this happened and then I started to realise just how not sexy I am," he said.
Ah, bonus points for the self-deprecating humour, Cooper, but you've hardly been whacked with the ugly stick.
"I have a lot of moments where [I'm] walking out and I'll open up the door [and think to myself], 'I could do that a lot sexier,'" he laughed.
Meanwhile, Cooper also confirmed that a third Hangover film is in the pipeline.
"I think that we adhered to the formula in the second one, for those who've seen it, and the third one, I think, which would close the whole trilogy," Cooper said.
"I think it'll take place in Los Angeles and maybe not adhere to the structure. It might be different."
He also confirmed that director Todd Phillips is penning the script, with shooting due to take place next September.
Watch Cooper's interview below:
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