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Stunning beauty queen reveals her secret life as a rugby player

From glam ball gowns to muddy pitches, Beauty Queen Danielle Evans is breaking down stereotypes as she showcases her unlikely combination of hobbies – beauty pageants and rugby union.

Rugby loving Danielle, from Brighton, is not your typical pageant queen.

Beauty Queen Danielle in her rugby kit and with her sash and crown when she was Miss Social Media.
Rugby loving Danielle Evans, from Brighton, is not your typical pageant queen. Photo: Caters

The 24-year-old began participating in pageants two years ago and has also been revelling in her love for the rough and tumble sport of rugby at the same time.

You might think the two couldn't be less similar, but Danielle says the sport has helped boost her confidence when she is competing.

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"Rugby helps me be more bold and outgoing in pageants," Danielle says.

"It's quite a rough sport and it's fairly easy to get injured, so you just have to throw yourself into it and be confident that everything will be fine. So that definitely helps me while I am competing on stage, or virtually this year, as I try to keep the same mental attitude so I perform well."

Danielle in beauty pageant photo rugby queen
The 24-year-old says the sport has helped boost her confidence in pageants. Photo: Caters

The recently-crowned Miss Brighton says it was only in recent years that she actually took up a ball and hit the field herself.

"I have always been a fan of rugby, but it wasn't until I went to university that I actually started playing it," she says.

"I love the glitz and glamour of pageants, it's so fun, and I love the thrill that I get from being on a rugby pitch with my teammates."

She says many are shocked when they hear of her double life, but that she couldn't love it more.

"It is great that I can do both," she says. "People are always so shocked when I speak to them about my love for competing in pageants as well as getting filthy while playing rugby."

Rugby-playing beauty queen poses in rugby outfit with tiara
Danielle was recently crowned Miss Brighton. Photo: Caters

"I think maybe it's hard to understand how someone can enjoy getting dolled up for a pageant and rolling around in the mud while people try and tackle you for the ball. It's quite a contrast."

Now the passionate multi-talent is using her platform to encourage other women to step outside of their comfort zones, with her ' Try Me' campaign to help break the stereotypes around women playing rugby.

She wanted to demonstrate that women can enjoy playing sport and still be feminine.

"I can be a girly girl, who enjoys makeup and fashion as well as enjoy playing rugby," she says.

It's not just championing contact sport either, the brunette stunner is also passionate about encouraging more diverse bodies in the pageant world.

"I am not stick-thin like you might expect pageant competitors to be," she said. "I am built with more of a rugby players physique and yet I compete in one of the most prestigious pageants in the UK."

"I am a curvier woman and I think that helps make me real and relatable to others."

"I want people to realise that you can do whatever you want, no matter what you look like, your shape or size. We can't be constrained by stereotypes."

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