Miss Netherlands 2023: Rikkie Valerie Kolle wins the title as first transgender model. Know all about her here

Miss Netherlands 2023: Congratulations Rikkie Valerie Kolle! Rikkie created history by winning the prestigious title of Miss Netherlands as the first transgender model. The runners up for this year is Nathalie Mogbelzada from Amsterdam. Habiba Mostafa won the title of Miss Congeniality and Lou Dirchs received the title of Miss Social Media. Rikkie Valerie is a 22-year-old Dutch-Moluccan model and actress from Breda. Rikkie’s win secures her spot as the representative from Netherlands for the coveted 72nd Miss Universe 2023 pageant. Rikkie, post the win, aspires to be a voice and role model for the queer community, and urge them to follow their dreams.

Rikkie, a few hours ago, shared a string of pictures and the video of her winning moment on her Instagram profile. From being crowned to posing with other models, Rikkie can be seen basking in the moment of her win. “I did it,” Rikkie captioned the pictures.

The win is of immense historic importance, as Rikkie is the second transgender contestant ever to participate in the beauty pageant. The first transgender model to participate in this beauty pageant was Angela Ponce from Spain, who made history in 2018.

In a recent interaction with World360News, Rikkie spoke of dedicating her career to uplifting the queer community, speaking of their struggles and their challenges, and urging them to follow their passion. Rikkie further added that the queer community faces immense pressure and rejection from their families for being true to their own selves. She envisions a world where no one faces rejection and challenges for being themselves.

Rikkie further added that her journey to become Miss Netherlands 2023 was also dotted with challenges, including the one where she openly embraced her true identity as a transgender. Through all of it, she found support and affection from her family.