This is a true story: As you may know by now, AO’s Editor in Chief Allan Hernandez was the last editor in chief of FHM Philippines before the magazine closed for good in 2018. He’d been with the magazine for practically its entire lifespan, and a big part of his job was to get the mag’s famed 100 Sexiest List rolling every year. This one involves the 2016 100 Sexiest List, where Jessy Mendiola emerged as no. 1.






When FHM revealed to Jessy that she was going to be crowned the sexiest, publicly she was very happy and thankful, but in truth she was a bit unsure: back then she was already being bullied for being on the “heavy” side of “sexy”, meaning not sexy at all. That hurt her. But FHM disagreed. In the 100 Sexiest issue that came out in July 2016, Allan wrote in the Editor’s note to the effect that what we know as “sexy” has changed, and it might even have less to do with bodies than attitude. 


Still, Jessy had to contend with the bullying after being named the Sexiest. We know now that it affected her mental health. But the best thing: She learned to let go of the negativity and she came out of it stronger, better, and dare we say it, even sexier than she has ever been. 






Now Jessy gets the best validation for her efforts: she will have a new fitness show on TV5 called Fit for Life! We can’t think of a better motivator for other women to get in shape than Jessy, because she’s been through the ups and down. She is 100% legit. 


Congrats Jessy! You are and will always be the Sexiest in our book!