Chace Crawford Tops Rob Pattinson for "Hottest Bachelor" Mantle

Gossip Girl star tops People's annual list; Twilight hunk, Chris Pine, Shia LaBeouf, Adam Lambert also rate

Carrie Underwood was clearly not on the voting panel. Neither, no doubt, was any member of the Twilight nation.

Gossip guy Chace Crawford was named People's Hottest Bachelor in the magazine's latest of its unending tributes to eye candy, beating out the likes of Chris Pine, Shia LaBeouf, Adam Lambert and—horror of horrors—Robert Pattinson for the top spot.

What the list lacks in A-listers (it's not nearly as loaded with established star power as the mag's Most Beautiful or Sexiest Man Alive roll calls), it more than makes up for in controversy.

Among those bachelors whose hotness was deemed less incendiary than Crawford: Pattz's Twilight costar Kellan Lutz along with 90210 bromancer Ryan Eggold, Dwayne Johnson, reality stalwart Brody Jenner, Common and Taylor Kitsch.

In the issue, the 23-year-old Footloose-starring coverboy (who was actually deemed "Summer's Hottest Bachelor"—guess this means People's crack evaluators are already at work on that fall issue) waxes on about life as a heartthrob. He dishes on such important matters as his first kiss, his ideal date, his gay rumors and his famous ex.

"I have nothing bad to say about that experience," he says of his relationship with Underwood. "It was awesome. I just didn't know how to deal with it."

Or, more accurately, end it.

"I learned a ton about dating someone in that kind of spotlight. It was such a whirlwind, but no regrets."

As for his other rumored hookup, Gossip Girl costar Ed Westwick, he says the pair laughed off theories of a romantic entanglement.

"You know what we really did the first time we heard it? Ed goes, 'Oh, did you hear that rumor about us being gay?' I was like, 'Yeah, man.' He starts laughing and we're kind of like, 'OK, you want to go play pool and have a beer.' "

Crawford, who for the record first puckered up in fifth grade and thinks dating married women is "a definite no," says that while he is available, he doesn't exactly feel eager to jump into a romance.

"I'm not not looking for a girlfriend—but I'm not particularly looking for a girlfriend, either. I'm not knocking having a relationship; at the end of the day, you want to share with someone. But I just look at it as: I have the rest of my life to do that. I'm not in any rush."

Not unless someone can come by with a "pool table, beer, an electric jukebox and good conversation," elements he says comprise the perfect date.

And interested ladies may want to brush up on their beer pong skills before approaching the actor.

"The day a girl beats me in a game of Beirut is a good sign!"

Also getting shout-outs in the latest issue are Bradley Cooper, Zac Efron, Prince Harry, Rafael Nadel and Scrubs BFFs Zach Braff and Donald Faison.