Olive oil secret to Loren beauty

Sophia Loren: Beauty icon for decades

Italian actress Sophia Loren has beaten much younger contenders to be voted the world's most naturally beautiful person at the age of 71 in an online poll.

The Oscar-winning star says her secret is down to love of life and spaghetti.

But another key to maintaining her youthful looks is one known to the ancient Romans - Loren takes "the odd bath in virgin olive oil".

The actress recently became the oldest woman to pose for the celebrated Pirelli calendar.

Even the Archbishop of Genoa once said that although the Vatican opposed human cloning, "an exception might be made in the case of Sophia Loren".

The online poll for the Dare to Be Bare Awards asked 1,578 people to rate the world's most naturally beautiful celebrities who do not conform to stereotypes.

Second place went to film star George Clooney, followed by Welsh opera-turned-pop singer Charlotte Church.

The rest in the top 10 are: Catherine Zeta Jones, Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jack Black, Cameron Diaz and Gail Porter.