Kate Beckinsale on being Sexiest Woman Alive

Kate Beckinsale felt like “a hunchback with blackheads” when she was named Sexiest Woman Alive.

The ‘Nothing But The Truth’ actress says she had never felt so unsexy as when she was given the honour by the US edition of Esquire magazine last October and claims the title has piled pressure on her to look good.

She said: “I felt the least sexy I have ever felt when I was told that. I was told and I thought ‘Marvellous’. The next day the pressure was huge.

“A comedian friend of mine told me that if he was named the funniest person alive he would probably never crack a joke ever again. I woke up the next day and felt like a hunchback with blackheads. Vile. It was a real compliment at the time though.”

After she was given the award, 36-year-old Kate – who is married to director Len Wiseman and has a 10-year-old daughter Lily from her relationship with actor Michael Sheen – said she felt the need to go and “earn” the title.

She admitted: “I’m feeling that I must earn this – I need to go out and become much better at pole dancing or something.”