A footballer with va va voom in every sense, Thierry Henry is one of the most beautiful sportsmen on the planet. Men drool at his fleet of foot, tremendous touch and wonderful skill on the ball. Women, on the other hand, are sent into raptures by Henry's matinee idol good looks. The man really does seem to have walked straight out of a movie set and onto the pitch. Unlikely other footballers that might have made it onto the list, Thierry also seems able to resist playing away from home too. You never hear any gossip about this happily married man.

Poor ol' Tom doesn't appear in many sex symbol lists these days. His bizarre private life (a devout Scientologist, he is engaged to Katie Holmes, 16 years his junior) means Tom is more likely to appear in the gossip pages. But back in the '80s and '90s, he was the man, thanks to classic films like Top Gun (1986), Cocktail (1988), Mission Impossible (1996) and Jerry Maguire (1996). A recent return to form in War Of The Worlds (2005) and Collateral (2004) means Tom is still a worthy sex symbol nominee, but for how long?

Welsh crooner Tom Jones has been charming audiences since the 60s and has had more knickers flung at him than most of us have had hot dinners. After scoring his first number one single in 1965 with It's Not Unusual, transatlantic success beckoned with a hit TV show, and friendship with fellow snake-hipped singer Elvis Presley. In recent years, Tom has re-established his cool credentials by playing at Glastonbury and duetting with Robbie Williams at the Brit Awards. With songs such as It's Not Unusual, What's Up Pussycat and Delilah, Tom has earned his place as a true Brit sex symbol.

Sex is power, so Tony Blair must be one of the sexiest men in Britain (does that make his best friend George Bush the sexiest man in the world?). Blair brought youthful energy back into politics after winning power from the Tory party in 1996. Like many seducers however, he promised much but has failed to deliver in the long run. Blair and Bill Clinton were the sexiest men in politics at one time, but his decision to become George Bush's gimp has ruined his sex symbol status. Warmongering does nothing for a man's attractiveness.

He might be a little long in the tooth to register as top totty for today's teenagers, but back in the day, Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz in 1925) was a veritable heartthrob. The star of numerous Hollywood hits such as Sweet Smell Of Success (1957), Some Like It Hot (1959) and Spartacus (1960), Curtis has had six wives (up until now), the first being Janet Leigh (star of Psycho), with whom he had daughter Jamie Lee Curtis.