Model Rosie tops sexiest woman poll

MODEL turned actress Rosie Huntington-Whiteley has unseated Cheryl Cole as the world’s sexiest woman.

Ms Huntington-Whiteley topped the voting in an annual FHM magazine poll to find the world’s 100 most beautiful women as voted by its readers.

For the last two years X Factor judge Cheryl Cole has topped the poll.

Ms Huntington-Whiteley, 24, stars in the upcoming Transformers: Dark Of The Moon film.

The actress, who is presently dating actor Jason Statham, is known for her modelling contracts for lingerie giants Victoria’s Secret and Agent Provocateur.

“I’m so flattered to be FHM’s Sexiest Woman in the World. This is a really exciting year for me,” the British-born model said.

Kate Middleton enjoyed a massive surge of popularity, making it into the top 100 for the first time since 2007. She shot into the list at 39.

Singer Katy Perry is ranked second in the FHM list, jumping 35 places from last year.

Third-placed singer Rihanna also had a hefty climb compared with 2010, rocketing 40 places.

She was followed in the list by actresses Megan Fox and Olivia Wilde.

The rest of the top 10, in order, were: Brooklyn Decker; Marisa Miller; Kelly Brook; Nicole Scherzinger; Irina Shayk

Ms Cole suffered a large fall, plummeting to 12th.