People.com Celebrity Channing Tatum Is PEOPLE's Sexiest Man Alive! The actor's first thought upon hearing the news? "Y'all are messing with me," he says By Antoinette Coulton and Julie Jordan Julie Jordan Instagram Twitter Julie Jordan is an Editor at Large for PEOPLE. She has been with the brand for 25 years, holding various roles in the Los Angeles Bureau including Associate Bureau Chief. In 2006, she relocated to the Midwest where she continues to cover all things entertainment and Hollywood, including celebrity covers, features and specials such as Sexiest Man Alive and the Beautiful Issue.Prior to joining PEOPLE, Jordan freelanced for magazines such as SOUTHERN LIVING and graduated from the University of Missouri with a Bachelor's degree in Journalism. She is well-versed in what it takes to be the Sexiest Man Alive (having interviewed 11 of them for their cover stories) and considers shooting a confetti cannon on-stage alongside Garth Brooks during his performance of "Friends in Low Places" a career highlight. People Editorial Guidelines Published on November 14, 2012 08:00 AM Share Tweet Pin Email He may have bared (almost) all of that incredibly chiseled body in this year’s Magic Mike but 2012’s Sexiest Man Alive Channing Tatum was still modest when he heard the news. “My first thought was, ‘Y’all are messing with me,'” says Tatum, who married actress Jenna Dewan-Tatum in 2009. “I told Jenna after we’d been in the bathtub washing our dogs because they’d gotten skunked.” Says the actor: “She was like, ‘What?'” “Yeah, she calls me [the Sexiest Man Alive] now,” he adds. And who can blame her? Sneak Peek: Hello, Channing Tatum! Her Alabama-bred heartthrob of a husband is also a sculptor who quotes Edgar Allan Poe, loves to give her massages and can’t wait to start their family. “I’m ready; I think she’s ready,” Tatum, 32, says. “The first number that pops into my head is three, but I just want one to be healthy and then we’ll see where we go after that.” “It s really easy for us guys to say, ‘I want like 15 kids,'” he continues. “Jenna will be like, ‘Well you better get another wife!'” Currently training to play an Olympic athlete in next year’s Foxcatcher, Tatum is all heart and muscle at 195 pounds. “I like to be lean. If I get too bulky I can’t move well and I like to move,” he says. “When I’m not training, I get really round and soft.” Which is just fine by his wife. “People know him to be fun and sexy, but they don’t know how emotionally deep and spiritually open he is,” says Dewan-Tatum, 31. “He is such an open-hearted person; what you see is what you get.”