FOREVER first lady Michelle Obama has taken over the title of most admired woman in the world, according to a new poll.
YouGov expanded its annual list to cover the views of people in 41 countries, with more than 42,000 people deciding the 20 men and 20 women on the “most admired” list.
Here’s how they did it. In December, YouGov gathered open-ended nominations from panelists across 41 countries, asking them: “Thinking about people alive in the world today, which (man or woman) do you most admire?”
Using these responses, they compiled a list of the 20 men and 20 women who received the most nominations and were nominated in at least four countries.
In January, YouGov used the lists to poll each of the 41 countries asking two questions: “Who do you truly admire?” (respondents could make multiple selections) and “Who do you MOST admire?” (only one pick allowed).
For the women, 12 of the 20 are entertainers:
No. 2: Oprah Winfrey
No. 3 Angelina Jolie (No. 1 last year)
No. 5: Emma Watson
No. 7: Peng Liyuan (also wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping)
No. 10: Taylor Swift
No. 11: Madonna
No.13: Deepika Padukone
No. 14: Priyanka Chopra
No. 15: Ellen DeGeneres
No. 16: Aishwarya Rai
No. 17: Sushmita Sen
No. 20: Yang Mi
Six are world leaders or first ladies:
No. 1: Michelle Obama
No. 4: Queen Elizabeth II
No. 8: Hillary Clinton
No. 12: Angela Merkel
No. 18: Theresa May
No. 19: Melania Trump
Rounding out the top 20:
No. 6: Malala Yousafzai
No. 9: Tu Youyou
For the men, the results included not only politicians and entertainers, but also businessmen, athletes and religious figures. The top five are in the same order as last year.
No. 1: Bill Gates
No. 2: Barack Obama
No. 3: Jackie Chan
No. 4: Xi Jinping
No. 5: Jack Ma
No. 6: Narendra Modi
No. 7: Cristiano Ronaldo
No. 8: Dalai Lama
No. 9: Lionel Messi
No. 10: Vladimir Putin
No. 11: Warren Buffett
No. 12: Amitabh Bachchan
No. 13: Elon Musk
No. 14: Donald Trump
No. 15: Pope Francis
No. 16: Shahrukh Khan
No. 17: Imran Khan
No. 18: Slan Khan
No. 19: Recep Tayyip Erdogen
No. 20: Andy Lau
The Obamas are No. 1 in the United States, with President Donald Trump at No. 2 for the men and first lady Melania Trump at No. 3 for the women, behind Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
There are four male entertainers making the top 20 in the U.S.: No. 3 Clint Eastwood, No. 5 Dwayne Johnson, No. 10 Will Smith and No. 12 Jackie Chan.
You can check the entire list, plus the results for other countries, at yougov.com.