Rikkie Valerie Kollé has created history by becoming the first transgender to be crowned as Miss Universe Netherlands. They will now be competing with the other cis-gender beauty queens at Miss Universe 2023.
Rikkie is the second transgender contestant ever to participate in the pageant. The first one was Angela Ponce from Spain in 2018. Angela had also won the Miss Universe pageant in Spain and went to the final competition. However, they didn’t win the contest.
The Dutch-Moluccan actor and model is from Breda and is 22 years old. They changed her name from Rik to Rikkie at the age of 11. At 16, they went for a sex reassignment operation. Rikkie is the second transgender model ever to participate in a beauty pageant.
Rikkie is quite stylish in real life and her social media post are proof. The new Miss Netherlands Universe 2023 likes to wear the trendiest of outfits and one can take a lesson or two from them on fashion.
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Rikkie’s words after being crowned as Miss Universe
Rikkie wrote a long note on her Instagram and thanked the people from their community who supported them. “It’s unreal but I can call myself Miss Nederland 2023. It was an educational and wonderful process, my year can’t go wrong anymore. I am so proud and happy I can’t describe it. I made my community proud and showed it can be done. And yes I am a trans woman and I would like to share my story, but I am also Rikkie and that is what counts for me. I did this on my own strength and enjoyed every moment. I want to thank the jury and everyone from the Miss Netherlands team for the trust, this is just the beginning. My dearest fellow finalists, we all put on a show, love you all girls,” they wrote.
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