NEWSJosh Duhamel Recalls Beating Ashton Kutcher in a Modeling Contest: 'I Just Won Miss America'
Before they were on screen, Josh Duhamel and Ashton Kutcher were battling it out on the runway.
May 14 2025, Published 1:17 p.m. ET
Movie stars or pageant kings?
Josh Duhamel revealed on a Tuesday, May 13, podcast episode that he beat Ashton Kutcher in a modeling contest nearly three decades ago.
Josh Duhamel and Ashton Kutcher competed in a modeling competition together.
The now-A-list stars enlisted in the 1997 competition to try to get signed by a Hollywood agent. Duhamel's top competitor was a "kid from Iowa," who turned out to be Kutcher, 47.
"First runner-up between me and Ashton," Duhamel, 52, remembered. "They say his name, and I swear to God, I just won Miss America. I was so excited. I felt like they lifted me up and put [on] a sash and a tiara. My god. They didn't do this, but that's what it felt like."
Even though the Shotgun Wedding star took home the top prize, he didn't catch the attention of an agent afterward. Meanwhile, his opponent went on to score a Calvin Klein campaign and got cast on That '70s Show.
"I was so pissed. Because I felt like, ‘But I won! I was the male model of the year!’" he exclaimed.
Josh Duhamel won a modeling competition against Ashton Kutcher.
Duhamel's breakout role on All My Children in 1999 was a result of years of hard work post-modeling competition.
"[Nothing happening after the modeling contest] was actually a good thing, probably because I had to go out and, you know, hit the streets, and really sort of bust my a-- to make anything happen," he said.
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Ashton Kutcher's Thoughts on Losing to Josh Duhamel
Ashton Kutcher wasn't pleased about losing to Josh Duhamel.
In 2021, Kutcher opened up about the same modeling duel during a radio show appearance.
"Handsome son of a b----, that f-----. I was so f------ upset at this guy for so long," he recalled of losing to Duhamel. "And then finally I ran into him, and I was like, ‘All right, you’re good looking.' I had to give it up, right?"
The No Strings Attached actor joked that "coming in second" was the "story of [his] life."
Josh Duhamel's Relationship With His Children
Josh Duhamel has two sons.
Elsewhere in his recent podcast appearance, Duhamel discussed what it's like leaving behind his children — Axl, 11, and Shepherd, 1 — while traveling as an actor.
"I think that's the worst part about this job is that you're gone a lot. I miss a lot of things," he said. "With Axl, I was in London. I just directed a movie called Preschool ... and I was gone for, like, three months. He came for nine days of it, but I missed all of his soccer."
The star was upset that he didn't get to see any of his child's basketball games last season either.
"That kind of stuff just kills me because, you know, you don't get that time back," he expressed. "I'm still present, but not being there for that stuff kills me."
The film star shares his oldest son with his ex-wife, Fergie, and his youngest with his current spouse, Audra Mari.
