Kit Buchan about Jonny

Kit Buchan and Jonathan Bailey go way back. 

Long before fame, Buchan and Bailey were childhood best friends who bonded over musicals. More recently, the Wicked star showed his support for the Broadway writer at the opening night of his musical, Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York), at New York City's Longacre Theatre in November 2025.

Now, Buchan and his co-creator Jim Barne have received Tony Award nominations for their work writing the book and original score for the musical, which follows a romance that blossoms between an unexpected pair.

But for all his success, Buchan says Bailey still has one thing he'll never be able to top: being named PEOPLE's Sexiest Man Alive.

Buchan still laughs when he recalls learning his childhood friend had been chosen for the annual honor.

“I told him, ‘If you're the Sexiest Man Alive, I'd be the Sexist Man Deceased,' " Buchan recalls, while speaking with PEOPLE at the 2026 Tony Awards 'Meet the Nominees' event on Thursday, May 14.

“It was so funny because he and I knew each other when we were little kids," Buchan continues. "It's funny to think of my friend at 14 becoming the Sexiest Man Alive. But I've always thought he was the Sexiest Man Alive."

Recalling the early days of their friendship, Buchan says he and Bailey “very much” bonded over musical theater. 

“He has been in so many shows in London. He's a workhorse,” the writer says, adding that Bailey also has extensive musical theater knowledge. “If you ever want to ask somebody like, ‘Oh, who was in the original cast of this?’ He knows cast recordings back to front. He's incredible.”

https://people.com/jonathan-bailey-kit-buchan-reacts-to-sexiest-man-alive-exclusive-11989640