Ryan Reynolds has some typically funny pearls of wisdom for Paul Rudd after ‘Sexiest Man Alive’ win

The never-ageing Paul Rudd was named as the People’s 2021 Sexiest Man Alive earlier this week and, while the 52-year-old has reacted with modesty, his showbiz pal (and former winner) Ryan Reynolds has some hilarious advice for him.

Talking to the Today Show, the Deadpool star, who is known for his comedic takes, jested that “this opportunity will be wasted on him, like so many before him.”

“Don’t blow this, Rudd,” he jokingly warned the star.

“He’s going to play it shy,” Reynolds went on to explain. “He’s going to play it bashful, humble. If I know what I knew now, I wouldn’t. You got to seize the opportunity.”

The 45-year-old knows this all too well, after winning the accolade back in 2010, and Reynolds also amusingly expressed what he would do if he won the award today.

“If I got it now, I’m not saying I would leave my family, but they would need to go on without me. I would roam the world clutching my dog-eared People magazine, going from town to town, sowing my wild oats like some sort of nude, magical gardener. It would be amazing,” the actor said.

Now there’s an image.

Reynolds also gave an insight into what it’s like winning the flattering title.

He said: “There was a little moment of disbelief, and then you kind of settle into it. Really, you just have to go with the flow.”

The Free Guy star also referenced Rudd’s win during an appearance on Jimmy Fallon after his and fellow actor Will Ferrell’s late-night guesting gig switcheroo (Reynolds was supposed to be on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, meanwhile, Ferrell was supposed to turn up to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon).

During his last-minute interview, Reynolds joked to Fallon about how well Rudd is ageing, providing some pretty wild suggestions as to how he has kept his youthful looks.

“He’s ageing backward because of his contract with Satan,” he said. “Or he only drinks breast milk from a blue whale or something. I heard he does something weird – and I want in,”

Rudd himself has remained graciously humble about the whole award win and, speaking on The Late Show Stephen Colbert, said: “I do have an awareness, enough to know that when people hear that I’d be picked for this, they would say, ‘What?’

“This is not false humility. There are so many people that should get this before me.”

And that’s why we love you, Paul Rudd.