How could we miss with a competition called “Sarasota’s Hottest Husbands”? That’s what we told ourselves when we came up with the idea, but by the time we kicked off the nomination process, we had started to worry. What if nobody entered? What if people thought it was too risqué? And worst of all, what if we got lots of entries but the husbands just weren’t hot?

We needn’t have worried. Sarasota’s Hottest Husbands has turned out to be the most successful competition we’ve ever had. From the moment couples started arriving at our kickoff party at Saks Fifth Avenue in February, we realized we had a winner on our hands. Husbands were all over the place, working the crowd and charming the judges. Some were brash and some were shy; some were young and some were old. But just about every one was certifiably hot. And in the weeks that followed, the entries kept pouring in—via Internet, regular mail, even hand-delivered to our office.

By the time we got to the final stages of the judging, we had each developed our favorites, and there were times when the discussion got almost as hot as the guys themselves. But we persevered, scrutinizing every picture, analyzing each man’s pros and cons, and slowly eliminating contenders from the shrinking pile. American Idol never got so competitive. At one point, Sarah Daily, our marketing manager and one of the judges, exclaimed, “This is the most fun I’ve ever had at workl”

And in the process, we learned the true definition of “hot.” Yes, it’s about sexiness, whether that comes from model-perfect good looks or pure animal magnetism. But it’s also about heart, kindness, intelligence, humor, old-fashioned chivalry and all-out passion for life. Our seven hottest husbands have all that and more. They run the gamut from a Harvard-educated former Hollywood actor to an irrepressible 92-year-old who just happens to be confined to a wheelchair. But get out your hot-o-meters and see for yourself!

Eldon Johnson

His wife, Kristin, and our judges aren’t the only ones who think Eldon Johnson is hot. The blond, buff 38-year-old was cast as one of the Sweeney brothers on the TV show Caroline in the City a few years back, and people are always telling him he should be a model. But what people might be surprised to learn is that Eldon is as brainy as he is beautiful. A Harvard graduate who studied English literature (and made a perfect score on one part of the graduate LSAT test), Eldon is also deeply religious. He worked as a chaplain at Harvard before he went to Hollywood—and what initially drew him to L.A. wasn’t the bright lights, but the chance to run a charity organization.

He was doing the TV show by the time he met Kristen on a trip home to Ohio, but he soon decided being her husband was the role of a lifetime. The two spent their first six months together using their savings to travel around the world, then decided Sarasota, Fla., would be the perfect place to raise a family.

Now he develops real estate by day, and after he tucks their three little girls into bed, spends his evenings playing guitar, singing and writing (both songs and his first novel). And he’s not only creative and multi-talented, says Kristen—“he’s the sweetest, most thoughtful, romantic, loving man I’ve ever met—and of course, the hottest!”

Gordon Bratter

Any man can sweep a girl off her feet, but how many can still make her feel like a princess 46 years later? Gordon Bratter keeps the fires burning, says his wife, Sandra. The two met on a beach in New York when she was 16 and he was 24; they walked down to the water and came back holding hands, and it’s been a love story ever since. Sandra and Gordon worked together in his publishing company, raised a daughter, and 25 years ago, looking for a vacation spot in Florida with good tennis, discovered The Colony on Longboat Key. Now they spend winters at their condo at The Colony and summers in New York.

At “73 years young,” Gordon has the energy and vitality of a 28-year-old, Sandra declares, while his warmth wins him friends wherever he goes. (We saw that for ourselves at the kickoff party, where people clustered around the couple all night.) But the focus of his life is Sandra. “He makes me feel beautiful, young and desirable—and let’s face it, I’m 66,” she says with a laugh. She read us the card he just gave her for her birthday. Passionate, poetic and sexy, it burned our ears and warmed our hearts. “You are one of a kind and cannot be replaced,” Gordon concluded. “My love for you only gets stronger every year. I can face all problems as long as we are together and you are by my side.”

Josh Beckmann

Josh Beckmann, all the judges agreed, would make our list on looks alone. At 43, he’s six feet, five inches and a lean 225 pounds of athletic perfection. The overall effect is, as his wife Fabiola wrote, “steamy.” And we’ll take her word that he’s “charming, witty, friendly” and a long list of similar adjectives. But there’s more to the story than that.

When Fabiola was diagnosed with breast cancer in March of 2006, Josh showed his grit. “He put aside his career temporarily to take care of the family first,” Fabiola tells us. It wasn’t easy. The Beckmanns have three sons—Ian, five, and three-year-old twins Sebastian and Luke—and Josh has a busy Siesta Key real estate business. But together they made it through—and tough as it was, Fabiola says the experience was “a blessing.” Why? “We don’t take life for granted any more; now we’re living every moment,” she says. She adds, “I could not ask for a better companion or soulmate, And after 14 years together, he still gives me goose bumps.”

Josh proves that hot gets even hotter when it has been tested by fire. Fabiola says it best when she pays her husband the highest compliment of all: “I pray our three sons will become men like their father.”

Art Willaredt

Art Willaredt, his wife Joanne says, is “like the energizer bunny—he just keeps going.” This 92-year-old is proof that you don’t have to be young to be hot. He may be confined to a wheelchair with Parkinson’s, but he lights up Bay View Health Care Center with his lively humor and interest in everyone and everything. He appreciates every single moment, Joanne says, especially those involving “fun, pretty women, Hooters, golf, cards, great dining”—and his nightly Southern Comfort Manhattan.

Art convinced Joanne to marry him and move with him from Illinois to his winter home in Sarasota in 1993, and she says she quickly learned that “few could compare to this man—my husband and best friend.” He’s her best sounding board and her biggest champion—and his hands are always “warm and comforting to hold.” Hottest of all: “When I enter the room, I see the glow of excitement in his eyes and the familiar smile that stirs my soul.” She touched our hearts when she wrote, “I can’t imagine my life without him.”

Michael Moulton

Let’s face it—in a hottest husband competition, animal magnetism counts. A lot. That’s something Michael Moulton, 51, has in spades. He’s the tiger lurking in the Brooks Brothers suit—except no tiger ever had such beautiful blue eyes.

As a hunk, Michael is as high-end as the waterfront real estate he sells for Michael Saunders. As his wife, Katie, puts it, “He has an incredible sense of style, impeccable taste in fabrics, color and is so perfectly put together—always!”

What we like second best—after the eyes, of course—is the way Michael so perfectly complements Katie. As general manager of The Colony Beach and Tennis Resort, she has one the most labor-intensive jobs in town. So Michael shops and plans their social schedule—including putting together an annual Christmas-gift package for her that includes the top shows of the coming year, each one preceded or followed by an ultra-romantic dinner. He even straightens out her closet.

But the best part, according to Katie? “On our weekly long walks over the Ringling Bridge, every now and then he just leans over and gives me a kiss or grabs my hand and pulls me close for a while—wow, after all these years?!”

Oh, and did we mention the eyes?

Oscar Correa

When Christine Correa met Oscar Correa at Club Bandstand at Sarasota Quay in 1992, she said to herself, “I am in so much trouble.” The young Argentinean with the smoldering good looks didn’t speak much English, but he was clearly fluent in the language of love—and when they danced together, she couldn’t stop thinking, “He smells so good.” Recently arrived in America, Oscar was getting up every morning at 5:30 for a day of landscape work, then washing dishes at Caragiulo’s at night, but he managed to find time to woo and wed Christine.

Their life together hasn’t always read like a romance novel. They lost a baby daughter, and they’ve struggled with the challenges of earning a living and raising their two young sons and her teenage daughter. But Oscar’s “heart” and absolute commitment to family held them together, she says, providing strength and tender comfort in the toughest times.

Today Oscar is one of the managers at Caragiulo’s. He still turns heads on the street and gets the occasional modeling gig. But the man who caught Christine’s eyes as “Sarasota’s hottest piece of eye candy” 15 years ago has turned out to be so much more. “He’s evolved as a human being and a whole man,” she says. “I consider myself blessed to walk through life with him.”

Jeff Kaiser

Look at Jeff Kaiser and you’ll see a handsome 46-year-old in peak condition. That’s hot—but it’s even hotter that he’s fought his way through a life-threatening condition to achieve the vitality he has today. Much to his and his wife Cindy’s shock, last summer Kaiser, a trust officer known for his drive and work ethic, both on the job and in the gym, was diagnosed with a congenital heart condition that required immediate open-heart surgery. The diagnosis hit especially hard because his division at work had just been eliminated. But Cindy says Jeff refused to give in to self-pity, even when the first surgery was followed by another emergency surgery. In fact, the picture she sent us with his nomination was of a grinning Jeff showing off his foot-long scar.
Within a few months he had regained his former health and energy—and landed an even better job, as a regional trust executive for a major national bank.

That’s characteristic of Jeff, says Cindy. “He’s overcome so much”—including times in their 25-year marriage when they made all the usual mistakes, focusing too much on their kids and work and not enough on each other. “My husband is hot because he’s worked at being a better partner,” she says. “Now we wake up every day and realize that everything we want is right here.” It doesn’t get any hotter than that.

A HOT CAUSE
Sarasota’s Hottest Husbands benefits one of Sarasota’s hottest causes—the men’s programs at The Wellness Community of Southwest Florida. The programs, which were the beneficiary of our kickoff party at Saks Fifth Avenue, offer a wide range of support and counseling services to men who are dealing with cancer. And that’s just a small part of what the Wellness Community does. Serving more than 1,400 people every year, the Wellness Community gives cancer patients and those they love information, encouragement, support and solid hope. And all of its programs and services are free and led by licensed professionals. To learn more about the Wellness Community, go to www.wellness-swfl.org; you’ll also find stories about the Wellness Community in our online edition this month at sarasotamagazine.com.