Over the years, gender stereotypes are being pushed aside while the world moves on. In recent news making the waves, Rikkie Valerie Kolle won the prestigious title of Miss Netherlands on July 8, 2023, thereby making history as the first transgender woman to achieve such a feat in her country.
While this move has added to her popularity, the Breda native also enjoys a career as an actress. Through this, she appeared in the Next Holland Top Model cycle of 2018 and finished at the 10th spot of the reality series.
Kolle may just be 24 years old, yet, when she proclaimed I DID IT at her crowning, the implication is that many more will be bold to take a chance to pursue their passion and dreams. Let’s take a close look at her life.
Let’s Take a Close Look at Rikkie Valerie Kolle Early Life
The Netherlands’ beauty queen was born on April 6, 2001, to Vjet Teke and an unidentified father in Breda. Regarding her ancestry, she is of Dutch-Moluccan heritage. At birth, she was assigned male and referred to as Rik but she did not feel comfortable in that body which she referred to as little Rik.
Also, she grew up alongside two siblings, Isa Kolle and Jalan Niek. Regarding her educational pursuit, not much has been revealed by Rikkie as she chooses to focus on her career.
Rikkie Valerie Kolle’s Transitioning Began at a Young Age
While she was still trying to find her place as a woman born in a man’s body, she was faced with another challenge of being teased at school. Thankfully, her immediate family gave her the needed support to make the outside criticism less painful. Needless to say, she started identifying as a woman at the age of 8, and at the age of 11, Rik changed his name to Rikkie.
At about the age of 12, she was given female puberty. By the time she turned 16, Rikkie went all in with her transformation process when she started taking female hormones. However, her decision to get a reassignment surgery was not as successful due to a long waiting list that took up to two years. Thankfully, the hospital gave her the go-ahead in 2022.
She shared her journey coming full circle in a February 2023 Instagram post in which she was lying in bed post-op.
She Started Out as a Model and Actress…
Kolle’s Instagram profile describes her as a model and actress. Starting from the many hours she spent on perfecting her catwalk to living like the woman she has always dreamt to be, she has come a long way. We can prove that her modeling career is going great through her social media updates as she can be seen in different poses for the cameras.
As a 17-year-old in 2018, she participated in Holland’s Next Top Model, a reality series that was aired on RTL5. Like the other 10 contestants from different parts of the country on this cycle of the show, Rikkie was also after the top spot which would have fetched her a title and other endorsement deals like a contract with a VDM model as well as a fashion spread with Elle.
However, she only appeared for 3 episodes out of 9 and finished in the tenth spot. The contest was finally won by Soufyan Gnini. Despite her inability to win the title, participating in such a widely syndicated show added to her experience with modeling and the strict requirements concerning sizing and weight which were a bit too much for her at the time. Also, it added to her credits as an actress and a model to watch out for.
Since leaving the show, she has graced the covers of world-famous magazines like l’oréal magazine in 2020.
Aside from this, we gathered that she is also a video vixen who appeared in songs like Hide My Love by the queer activist, Paul Morris.
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…And Became the First Transgender Miss Netherland in 2023
https://www.instagram.com/p/CuH2vGaAXcX/
Since she launched her career, Kolle has not turned back from reaching the top. She was selected as the winner of Miss Netherlands on July 8, 2023, at an event held at AFAS Theatre in Leusden. Though she has broken this feat in her country as the first transgender woman, it is not the first in other places like Spain where the record was broken in by Angela Ponce in 2015.
Kolle promised that she will continue to advocate for the rights of the queer community as all humans are equal.
As winner of the title, Kolle will represent her country with the national flag at the 72 Miss Universe pageant 2023 which will take place in El Salvador.
