The first transgender winner of the Miss Netherlands beauty pageant was left shocked when some of her competitors did not reach out after her historic win.
Rikkie Valerie Kollé, 22, became the first transgender woman to win the pageant and will head to El Salvador in December to represent The Netherlands in the global Miss Universe competition.
During her preparations for the pageant, Kollé formed a close bond with the other women competing but was disappointed when some did not contact her after Saturday's final, despite cheering her on stage after her win.
"I thought we were a group and bonded after a few months, but after I won I did not get a message from every contestant and that made me really sad because I thought we were a group and doing this together," Kollé told Newsweek in an exclusive interview.
"Some did not even say congratulations, and it shocked me because I did not expect that."
Despite some of the women not sending her a message after the competition, Kollé did receive some "beautiful messages" from the rest of her competitors.
"But I will say we did have a lovely group, and we did everything well together," Kollé added. "We gave a great show as a group... and they also really accepted me."
While she may not have received texts from everyone after her win, some of the other women did congratulate her on social media.
"There she is... our new Miss Universe Netherlands 2023 @rikkievaleriekolle ✨
Well deserved winner who owned that stage Saturday night, with a beautiful message and a very strong mindset. I'm so proud of you!" wrote Ona Moody, the 2022 winner, on Instagram.
Lou Dirchs, who won the Social Media sash on the night, said of Kollé: "A big congratulations to @rikkievaleriekolle👑❤"
Fellow contestant Ruby-Ann Chwatchko wrote: "I am so grateful for the lovely people and beautiful memories. And above all I am very proud of the beautiful women with whom I have been surrounded in recent months."
Kollé admitting that not all the competitors accepted her place in the pageant comes after a vitriolic backlash against her win. The model was inundated with hate messages and death threats from people who did not like that a transgender woman was crowned Miss Netherlands.
She told Newsweek that even though she expected to be trolled by anti-transgender people, the "haters" have given her a bigger platform because they helped raise her profile.
"Wishing me dead and telling me to suicide, those things are terrible to write, but at the same [time], it's only lifting me up because I get a bigger platform than I could ever dream of," she said.
"The only thing I want to say to the haters is 'thank you,' because you're giving me a bigger platform than I can ever imagine."
For the next few months, Kollé will spend her time preparing for Miss Universe in El Salvador and will become the second transgender woman ever to compete in that competition. The first was Angela Ponce who represented Spain in 2018.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text "988" to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Shannon Power is a Greek-Australian reporter, but now calls London home. They have worked as across three continents in print, ... Read more
