Courtney Hayles: 2016 Mills & Boon Man of the Year

The actor and drama teacher batted off competition from around 300 other entrants

Mr Hayles, from Battersea, south-west London said he was “shocked” to have been selected (Mills & Boon/PA Wire)

Looking for love?

Courtney Hayles has been crowned 2016 Mills & Boon Man of the Year and, as part of his prize, he will grace the cover of the romantic publisher’s Valentine’s Day offering. Following a nationwide hunt to find a new romantic hero, the actor and drama teacher was deemed Mr Right by judges, batting off competition from around 300 other entrants.

What did he make of the decision?

Mr Hayles, from Battersea, south-west London said he was “shocked” to have been selected and spoke of his excitement at being “immortalised” on the cover of the forthcoming book, It Had to be You, by Barbara Hannay and Nikki Logan. “I'm on top of the world. My face is on a book. It's amazing,“ Mr Hayles enthused. ”Every time I look at the book, I'm still, like, 'Wow! That's me'. I can't believe it,“ he added.

It’s enough to make you go weak at the knees.

Becoming one of only a handful of black Mills & Boon cover stars made Mr Hayles feel like he was ”part of history”, he said. “I feel like I'm part of a brand. I feel like I'm part of the new step forward and I think I fit perfectly with all the other faces,“ the actor and drama teacher added.

Is he a fan of the bodice-rippers himself?

”My mum was an avid reader of Mills & Boon books. I never really understood it then, but now? I'm an old romantic and I think they hold a relevance today,“ said Mr Hayles, who also works as a motivational speaker. “Mills & Boon is still current and it will always be here. I don't think they should ever stop,” he declared.