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Actress Priyanka Chopra has been named the world’s sexiest Asian woman for a record-breaking fifth time and dethroned Deepika Padukone, who topped the globally renowned long-running list in UK based newspaper Eastern Eye in 2016. This rounds off another dream year for the actress, which saw her make incredible strides internationally with the release of debut Hollywood feature ‘Baywatch’, another People’s Choice Award for her acclaimed TV serial Quantico and signing further high profile films in the west. She also continued to make strides as a producer and was one of the hottest Indian stars on social media, crossing 20 million followers on Instagram. “I cannot actually take credit for this at all. Full credit should be given to my genetics and your optics! Thank you Eastern Eye and to everyone who voted for me to be Asia’s Sexiest Woman, for what I’m told is a record breaking number of times! I feel grateful and am humbled. Consistency is key,” said Priyanka Chopra.
Now in its 14th year the list is based on many millions of votes sent in by fans around the world, media coverage, impact and heat generated across various social media platforms. The mass interest in the 2017 edition of the list was such that it was trending on Twitter across different countries including India during the voting process. Eastern Eye’s award-winning Entertainment editor Asjad Nazir, who founded the list and puts it together annually, said: “Priyanka Chopra has become an incredible international ambassador for India and is smashing through glass ceilings all over the world. Apart from being courageous enough to fly into the unknown professionally, she has also done a lot of work for social causes, become a strong symbol for girl power and is making a young generation have big dreams. She is the perfect mix of beauty, brains, bravery and a kind heart,” said Asjad Nazir.
Small screen beauty Nia Sharma came in second and held onto her position as the sexiest television star in the list. The talented actress was thrilled to be second after her inspiration Priyanka Chopra. “I dare to dream of reaching where Priyanka Chopra is one day. But seeing my name next to her in the list is no less a dream and struck me with a frenzied happiness. What my fans have done, I can’t pay them back in words. They make me feel confident and I feel I exist because of them. Yes, it’s a TV girl who is weird, fierce, bizarre, wannabe or whatever names they call her. I owe my fans this joy and want to share it with them despite not being able to digest the development,” said Nia Sharma.
Last year’s winner Deepika Padukone came in third, the crown princess of Bollywood Alia Bhatt was fourth and popular Pakistani star Mahira Khan was fifth in the list. The rest of the top 10 was Drashti Dhami (6), Katrina Kaif (7), Shraddha Kapoor (8), Gauahar Khan (9) and Rubina Dilaik (10).
The highest place newcomer and youngest in the list was 19-year-old television actress Shivangi Joshi (16). The oldest in the list is 54-year-old Sridevi (49), who is one of two editor’s choices in the list. The other editor’s choice is Pakistani singer Momina Mustehsan (37), who has emerged in the male dominated music industry in Pakistan and made a massive impact along with opening a debate about important social causes.
Other key names in the 2017 list include Niti Taylor (11), Sonam Kapoor (12), Jennifer Winget (14), Esha Gupta (17), Krystle DSouza (21), Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan (26), Erica Fernandes (28), Jacqueline Fernandez (30), Athiya Shetty (32), Anushka Shetty (42) and Anushka Sharma (44).
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