Matt Czuchry's Family Put His Face on the Cover of PEOPLE's Sexiest Man Alive Decades Ago: 'Manifested This Moment' (Exclusive)

Matt Czuchry’s family always knew what his future held.

The Gilmore Girls alum, 48, was featured in PEOPLE’s 2025 Sexiest Man Alive issue, where he and Jared Padalecki reflected on their breakout roles as Rory Gilmore’s boyfriends in the hit series. The interview brought back a lot of memories for the pair, including one that Czuchry can’t help but share.

“This is a true story,” he notes. “This was a long time ago — it may have been the first season of Gilmore Girls — I came back to Tennessee for Thanksgiving, and all my family was already there, and they had put my picture on the front of a magazine with Sexiest Man Alive written on it. So I have that. And now it's come true.”

“I think that my family manifested this moment,” he quips.

Czuchry, who starred as Rory’s college love Logan Huntzberger in the classic WB series, also admits he’s “thrilled” to be able to share the experience with Padalecki, 43, who played her first beau, Dean Forester. While the actors only ever had one scene together — Czuchry joined in season 5 while Padalecki was on the show from season 1 — they say they developed a special bond.

“Whenever I think of Jared, I think of Milo Ventimiglia as well, and that connection the three of us have because of our Gilmore Girls storylines,” The Good Wife alum explains (Ventimiglia played another one of Rory’s romantic interests, Jess Mariano, in the show). “That's always been special for me when I'm thinking about you, that we've been in it all together.”

“It started with that scene,” Czuchry continues. “We weren't in the scene together, so to speak, but we were on set and we're talking. That friendship has only increased.”

Their three storylines sparked a long-running debate among Gilmore Girls fans about which man was best for Alexis Bledel’s lead character. Even Padalecki and Czuchry have taken a side.

“I'm team Jess, funny enough,” the Supernatural star reveals. “Just knowing the show and having some idea of where Rory was in her life. They all were flawed, let's be clear. Well, I'll say Dean was flawed. They all had their issues, but today I'm team Jess.”

Czuchry adds, “It's kind of changed for me over the course of time. I think right now, because we had that part on Netflix that went back, and we had that whole aspect too, which was great, it was so much fun — but I think if he changes his life, then I could see Logan coming back and being with Rory. He would be in a completely different place in his life.”

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All episodes of Gilmore Girls are available to stream on Netflix.