Last updated at 13:45 27 April 2006

When the wholesome, clean-cut actress went head to head with the scandal-plagued supermodel, perhaps the result was predictable. Keira Knightley was the £1million winner.

Hollywood's hottest property has been chosen to replace Kate Moss as the face of Chanel's Coco Mademoiselle perfume when her contract expires at the end of the year.

But if the corporate snub was a disappointment for Miss Moss, there was worse to come.

Miss Knightley, 21, was voted the world's sexiest woman in a men's magazine poll, while the 32-year-old Croydon-born model only just scraped into the top 100 at number 87.

The poll results appear in a 100 Sexiest Supplement, published free with the June edition of FHM.

Chanel had already dropped Miss Moss from its main fashion line in the wake of the cocaine scandal which engulfed her last September, but at that stage she continued to feature for Coco Mademoiselle.

The company refused to say whether the latest decision was connected to her troubled private life - she was photographed apparently snorting drugs - or her on-off relationship with rock star Pete Doherty, who is battling heroin and crack-cocaine addiction.

Miss Knightley's career to date has remained refreshingly scandal-free, blighted only by her break up with her model boyfriend Jamie Dornan, who ironically is to star with Miss Moss in a Calvin Klein advert.

She is in demand in Hollywood after a string of successes, including Pride and Prejudice, for which she earned an Oscar nomination. She is currently working on three films.

A Chanel spokesman said: "Keira's elegance, beauty and modernity are but a few of the qualities that parallel the iconic faces featured in the legendary Chanel fragrance campaigns." He quoted Catherine Deneuve and Nicole Kidman as examples of previous choices.

The company's artistic director Jacques Helleu also paid tribute to the new signing.

"Keira Knightley is a bright, young actress who has already made her mark in a diverse portfolio of films," he said.