It’s tiiiiiiiiiiime.
Most Handsome Young Man season has finally arrived, and thus we present to you our 2025 crop of nominees. From dancing reality stars to elected officials, the men have been giving this year. Narrowing down the pack is always a difficult task, but the cream always rises to the top. Read on to learn who we and our Patreon subscribers have put forward for the honor and cast your vote at the very bottom of the post. Polls will be open from Monday, November 24th at 8am to Sunday, November 30th at 5pm.
During that window, feel free to campaign and trash talk to your heart’s content. The choice is ultimately yours as to who will join last year’s winner Glen Powell in the pantheon of MYHM. Happy voting and enjoy the eye candy! – Sage
Dylan Efron
I think I was always vaguely aware that Zac Efron had a younger brother who mostly worked in production, making the occasional cameo in Zac’s outdoorsy YouTube videos but I never really looked into him because, to quote the eternally handsome Jack Dawson, I am more of an indoor girlie and that kind of content really didn’t interest me.
Forgive me, Dylan Efron, I knew not what I was doing. I may not have known how handsome you were before the third season of The Traitors premiered on January 9th, 2025, but I certainly know it now.
What a fucking year for Dylan though. He proved himself to be the Most Faithful of all the Faithfuls, the Peter Weber of Season Three, you might say, except way more likable, way more handsome, and you know…he actually won the game. He made an impression on the game right from the start, almost immediately pegging Bob the Drag Queen as a Traitor and earning his own drag name, Miss Guided, in the process. Dylan didn’t always vote with his mind because his heart belonged to Survivor GOAT Boston Rob Mariano, their fast friendship became one of the reality TV highlights of 2025. But the important thing is that Dylan got there in the end, proving himself to be the most astute of all the Faithfuls when it came to gameplat, a true competitor who was dependable in challenges, and a man with a penchant for absolutely outstanding knitwear.
Naturally, this breakout Traitors performance meant that Dancing With The Stars came a’callin’. As of this posting, Dylan is preparing to dance for the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy in the finals, a feat I didn’t think was possible because his first dance was…not great. But Dylan has put in the WORK this season. He’s improved on his performance every week, soaking up the knowledge from his pro (the inimitable Daniela Karagach) and taking every bit of critique from the judges to heart. He’s taken the competition seriously, which is the most important thing you can do on a silly little (AMAZING) show like DWTS. In the end, Dylan’s proved that his most handsome quality is not those washboard abs or those sparkling blue eyes – it’s his work ethic.
But those abs definitely help too. – Kim
Tom Francis
If you were on TheatreTok at all in the 2024-25 Tony Season, there were two things that were inescapable as you scrolled your FYP: fans camping out along 44th street in order to get a glimpse Sunset Blvd.‘s leading man Tom Francis as he performed the title song while literally taking a brisk stroll around the block and Sunset’s curtain call, in which Tom took his bows wearing nothing but a pair of tiny black boxer briefs with blood smeared all over his bare chest.
Talk about a handsome Broadway debut.
I haven’t loved a Broadway production the way I loved Sunset Blvd. in years and Tom was truly revelation as Joe Gillis, the down on his screenwriter who gets caught up in the web of fading movie star Norma Desmond. He played Joe with a world-weariness and a bitter cynicism that you forgot he was just a 25 year old in his first major headlining role. (If I didn’t love him so much, truly, I’d hate him. What do you MEAN he’s that young?) He’s got that rich yet gravelly baritenor voice that’s like the second coming of Adam Pascal. He’s incredibly magnetic, easily commanding the stage opposite Nicole Scherzinger’s ferocious Norma. And that FACE! Tom gives James Dean with those pouty lips, that strong nose, those baby blue eyes, and that floppy hair that gives new meaning to the term “slut strand.” It’s a face that’s meant to be on the big screen and Jamie Lloyd’s innovative use of cameras and video screens for this production took advantage of that fact to the highest degree.
And yes, that walk and sing performance of “Sunset Boulevard” was just as thrilling in person as it looked on TikTok. You know the WHOLE TIME that he’s going to burst through the doors of the theatre right as he hits those final lines of the song, but it still made the audience roar with approval every night. Plus, he did it in rain, in the dead of winter, and during a heat wave where they let him do the walk in just his white tank. Tom’s just like the Postal Service – neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom stops him from DELIVERING.
As for those tiny briefs he ended the show in every night, showcasing his truly spectacular thighs? Once again, I have to thank Jamie Lloyd for truly giving the girls and gays exactly what they deserve.
Also, the man is a true fashion plate, delivering an impressive array of LEWKS over the past year, from his chocolate brown tux and shades at the Tonys to the pale blue suit that perfectly matched his eyes at the Drama League Awards to his champagne number at the Met Gala that was accessorized with a perfectly cunty earring. And the best thing about Tom Francis is that his career is just getting started. We barely know what he’s capable of. So if you crown him as Most Handsome Young Man now, you can be smug that you were an early adopter of his handsomeness. – Kim
Michael B. Jordan
Michael B. Jordan is so handsome that I was convinced that this would be his second nomination for Most Handsome Young Man. But when I did a deep dive into our Handsome archives I discovered that he had actually NEVER been nominated. We didn’t nominate him in 2015 when Creed made our erstwhile QB Vince Howard a freaking movie star. And we didn’t nominate him in 2018, which is really egregious considering how freaking ripped he got to play Black Panther’s baddie (with good reasons!) Killmonger. Past Kim and Sage were fools, Michael. We’re so sorry. Consider this nomination an acknowledgement of a decade of being handsome, okay?
Then again, maybe we were just waiting for him to play twins. Twice the Michael, twice the handsome, amirite?
There’s no denying that Sinners is THE movie of 2025, and yes, I am saying that even though there’s six weeks left in the year. Though it’s Michael’s fifth collaboration with director Ryan Coogler, it’s the first time they’ve tackled completely original material together, and boy, did they deliver. Sinners is the perfect combination of popcorn horror flick and prestige drama. It’s audacious and it’s transcendent and it STAYS with you. (I think about THAT musical sequence all the time, and after attending Mumford and Sons at Forest Hills, I am pretty sure Marcus Mumford MAY be a vampire, IYKYK.) It proves that audiences will show up in droves for a Non-IP movie that feels like an EVENT.
And sure, it also helps that the movie is horny as hell and did I mention that Michael turns in one of the best performances of his career playing TWINS? He is so good at embodying Smoke and Stack with distinct personalities, subtly changing posture and body language to differentiate between the two. It’s a tour de force performance that needs to be remembered this coming awards season. Plus, Michael looks handsome as HELL in all of those period suits and gets hotter the most disheveled and bloody he gets.
Elsewhere, Michael is an ambassador for David Yurman jewelry, which just means that his Instagram is FULL of model shots showcasing his bling. A man who truly knows how to frost himself? That’s really handsome. – Kim
Zohran Mamdani
Is that…hope I feel?
New York City’s mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is a democratic socialist, pro-Palestine, pro-rent-freeze, and, most important to the business at hand, a babe. This political juggernaut is so charming that he easily won over Donald Trump, whilst calling him a fascist to his face. Trump was like, “Not gonna argue with a man with big, brown eyes. Whatever you say, beautiful.”
But in all seriousness, after several years of corruption, it’s a relief and a thrill to have an incoming mayor who wants the best for all New Yorkers and is focused on making our beautiful city affordable again. And since his win was just one in November’s major blue wave, he’s not as niche of a nominee as you might initially assume. Once you’ve been parodied on SNL, you are a handsome young man that belongs to the world, not just your hometown.
A big bonus for Zohran’s candidacy is that we all live in the same neighborhood, so there’s every chance that we may be able to share this news with him in person. Should you like to see Kim and I embarrass ourselves in that fashion, our dishy new mayor should be your vote. – Sage
Ebon Moss-Bachrach
Kind of embarrassed that we didn’t think of this one ourselves first, but we are beyond pleased that Patreon subscriber Kortnea used her privileges to nominate Ebon Moss-Bachrach. Real ones know that Jeremy Allen White isn’t the only heartthrob on The Bear.
A veteran actor, Ebon broke out in a major way with the role of the most Italian non-Italian in Chicago, “Cousin” Richie Jerimovich. A loud-mouthed (albeit charming) misanthrope in the first season, Richie has one of the most satisfying character arcs in the realm of dramedy TV, discovering his sense of purpose and dedicating his life to making others feel special and taken care of. Along with that revelation came a wardrobe upgrade: He wears suits and smells good now. But never forget that Richie was just as handsome in a greasy apron and an Original BERF t-shirt.
Richie’s unfailing sense of loyalty, the friendship he extends to his ex-wife as she moves on, and the way he puts his entire being into the restaurant are all extremely attractive qualities. And Ebon never fails to deliver a line or make an acting choice that makes us feel like Cousin is someone we’ve known our entire lives, too.
Were it not for Ebon’s dreaminess, I reckon we would not be as invested in the TRUE ship of the show: SydRichie. (SydCarmy shippers, you are cordially invited to argue with the wall.) Despite their rocky beginnings, such as the time she stabbed him, Sydney and Richie have developed a really lovely and mutually supportive friendship and I yearn for her to become his controversially younger girlfriend.
This star turn led to Ebon’s second journey into the Marvel universe, as he was tapped by Disney to play Ben Grimm in their latest attempt to make the Fantastic Four work on screen. Unfortunately for us, he appeared as a CGI Thing for most of its runtime. Did the lack of Ebon’s face contribute to the movie’s lackluster box office performance? Who’s to say?
Us, and undoubtedly yes. – Sage
Noah Wyle
Whether you’re one of the girlies just discovering him via TV’s finest drama The Pitt or were traumatized by John Truman Carter III in the ‘90s and ‘00s, surely you agree with us that Noah Wyle is a generation-spanning crush object. The winner of this year’s Feelie for Best Leading Actor in a Male Role — Drama, Noah is currently delivering a career-defining performance on HBO as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavich, the long-suffering but ferociously kind senior attending of Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center’s emergency department. For this role he won his first ever Emmy Award, after being nominated FIVE times for playing the idealistic and messy Dr. Carter on ER. Creating two iconic roles that exist within the same genre but are totally distinct from each other is no easy feat, especially in television.
Amid an uncanny valley of veneers and fillers, it is genuinely refreshing and so, so sexy to see an actor who isn’t fighting (fake) tooth and nail against the passage of time. Like a fine wine, this man has aged incredibly well and I, for one, would like to thank him for not denying us his “I will be your father figure” era.
I can only imagine what it’s like to be deemed an internet boyfriend again in 2025 when you first experienced that kind of attention before most of us were even on the internet. But Noah is handling the memes, fancams, and Robby/Abbot fanfiction with grace and humor, if not the slightest hint of mortification. In fact, what tickles me the most about nominating him for this award is knowing that he would probably turn so red if he ever found out. We stan a humble king.
Let it also be known that Noah has a handsome HEART. For years, he’s been using his platform to advocate for healthcare workers, often alongside his mother, who worked as a registered nurse. During the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, he could often be found on the picket line with his colleagues, and his younger castmates on The Pitt have praised him for his mentorship and (pass the smelling salts) the lending library he established on the set. Authentic, altruistic, and well-read? That’s the recipe for a MHYM winner. – Sage
Share Your Feels