Hugh JackmanHugh Jackman has said it’s not easy being the Sexiest Man Alive.

The Australia star was given the title by People magazine earlier this month but speaking at the epic film’s premiere in New York on Monday night, he explained that the Sexiest Man Alive in 1997 and 2006 didn’t take Hugh’s victory too well - or at least thought the award was material for a hazing: “George Clooney rang me at two in the morning.

“I was half asleep and I said to him, ‘Ah, George sweetie, good to hear from you.’

“He goes, “Shut up, Jackman!’. [He said] ‘I know what you did! You started this big campaign that’s been going on and [you] took the title away from me.’

“I thought that was unnecessary.”

But Hugh added his dad is finding the title difficult to deal with too: “My old man traveled over [from Australia] with me and we landed in America … and all of sudden we were stopped at the airport and saw the Sexiest Man Alive magazine and everyone is talking about it. My father found it really uncomfortable.

“[My dad] said to me, ‘I can’t really talk to you about being sexy. It’s a little weird.’

“Mind you, I’m still waiting for the birds and the bees pitch from him. That hasn’t happened either!”