Sir Patrick Stewart has jokingly tipped himself as the real world’s sexiest man following country singer Blake Shelton’s accolade.

Shelton – boyfriend of pop star Gwen Stefani – was recently named sexiest man alive by US magazine People, sharing the news via a cheeky Twitter post, reading “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful”.

His honour attracted the attention of Hollywood heartthrob Hugh Jackman, who advised him: “Hey @blakeshelton … take it from me … humble only gets you so far. Milk the sexy status for ALL it’s worth. The reign goes all too quickly. Just ask (Ryan Reynolds).”

Deadpool star Reynolds replied that both Shelton and Jackman were “speed bumps on the road to” Sir Patrick, who quickly told the whole group to step aside as he presented his own historical magazine cover.

“Gentlemen, come at me when you are THIS sexy. #SexiestManAlive #WelcomeToTheGunShow,” he posted, alongside a muscular picture of himself on the front of a TV Guide featuring 1990s sci-fi series The X-Files and Babylon 5.

With a nod to Sir Patrick’s days playing Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek, Shelton conceded: “Out of this WORLD sexy.”

It follows a string of tongue-in-cheek posts from Shelton describing his ordinary activities as “sexy” in the wake of his new title.

He has regularly updated his fans with messages like: “I have the hiccups…And they sound so sexy,” and: “I just made a drink…A sexy drink”.

He said in a video post that he was “wallowing and celebrating” following the “honour that has been bestowed upon me”.

Sharing his favourite responses from social media followers, he read out one stating: “We may be living in a time of division and strife, but at least People magazine has united us in our certainty that Blake Shelton is NOT the sexiest man alive”.

Stefani, on the other hand, disagreed with any backlash from magazine readers, telling US show Access Hollywood: “I already had scored but now I really scored.”