Benny Blanco’s ‘Sexy Gentleman’ Rules for People’s Sexiest Man Alive

On November 12, 2024By Littum

The producer, who is dating Selena Gomez, is featured in the magazine’s anticipated sexiest issue, with tips on epic first dates and cooking.

By now you’ve probably seen or heard of Benny Blancos skills in the kitchen. The Grammy-nominated producer who has been dating Selena Gomez for the past year offered some of his best tips for being a good girlfriend in a preview of People magazine’s annual edition of Sexiest Man Alive.

Blanco, 36, who the magazine said will be included in the upcoming annual countdown of hunks, shared what he called his eight secrets to success in love and life, stressing that you should never play “games” and that you should always bring your One game to every outing.

“I (still) go all out on every date. That doesn’t mean spending your entire bank account. It means paying attention and listening,” said Blanco, who has been pictured courtside at Lakers games cuddling with Gomez and went all out for their first Valentine’s Day together, where he brought an air fryer to a rented movie theater so he could provide the singer with his favorite snacks.

The manufacturer offered the magazine a number of eight simple tips to be a sexy gentleman. They include:

Learning to cook – “Even if you’re terrible at cooking, (your partner will) like it because you did it. Ask your partner what they want to eat. Do not try to cook them what you want to eat. If you don’t know how to cook it — learn it,” said Blanco, who dropped his Open wide: A cookbook for friends cookbook earlier this year. Also, if you can’t cook, he said you can always order postmates and pretend you whipped it up yourself. Bonus tip: “Try being chivalrous: Tell her how beautiful she is. Chivalry is not dead.”
Make the first date an experience: The takeaway you want is your partner saying, “‘Oh my God, I’m calling all my friends. This was the craziest thing. We were sitting on the back of a tractor-trailer that flew, and he made me spin…” It must be kind of crazy, because you want to leave an impression. The person is going out on a lot of first dates and you have to secure your spot,” he said. He noted that Selena once rented out a botanical garden to them and recalled making nachos at the movie theater for Gomez for Valentine’s Day and deep-frying her favorite Texas jam for her.
Dress for success: It’s not about wearing the most expensive thing, it’s about the perfect mix of high-low, like a vintage Prada jacket with a killer thrift store find.
Self care counts: Good skin, not showering every day and a signature scent (tobacco and cotton) that makes you smell a little “a little bit like a man (and) a little bit feminine.”
Be a good host: Blanco said he loves hosting dinner parties and often invites people who don’t know each other or even shouldn’t be hanging out to make things interesting. “I want someone who writes songs next to an 80-year-old florist,” he told the magazine. “I think age is nothing but a number. I want a 3-year-old sitting next to a scientist and just hearing what they’re talking about because I know it’s going to be crazy s -t.”
Mothers matter: Blanco’s best friend is his mother, with whom he goes to the farmer’s market every Sunday. He also makes her lunch, gives her a new orchid every Mother’s Day, and they swim and gossip together.
Turn gift-giving into high art: Never get the thing that everyone else buys by remembering something a friend said and using that memory to get them a gift they actually want. To make things sexier, Blanco also noted that most of his gifts are homemade. Gomez understands that. The first time he and Gomez realized they were meant to be together, she made him a bear that said “I miss you so much. You’ll be fine. I’ll see you when I get back,” as its hand was squeezed.
No ghosts: Blanco has never completely blanked anyone – “you have to be demonic to prank someone” – because he believes a gentleman would never do that. “I totally understand if you go out on a date and the guy is totally creepy — you should totally prank him,” he said. “But I don’t want to kid anyone. I always think when I do something like this, I think about my mom and I’m like, ‘Oh, I want to treat this person like I would treat my mom and how I want need someone to treat my mother.”

The Late Show host Stephen Colbert will announce this year’s Sexiest Man Alive cover star on Tuesday night (November 12).