The amazing CONVERSION of Thom Evans
He’s gone from rugby ace to model to reality TV star. And now he’s dating one of the world’s most beautiful women. It’s...
HIS social media channels have, in recent weeks, been inundated with pictures of him dancing, snuggling, and jet-setting with one of the most famous women in pop. In one particularly seductive photo he poses topless, baring his ripped, chiselled abdomen in a Los Angeles workout studio.
The former golden boy of Scottish rugby grins at the camera – a fist raised as if in celebration.
For Thom Evans, there is certainly a lot to be pleased about.
Earlier this month, a picture of Evans with his arm around Nicola Scherzinger’s waist on the Golden Globes red carpet seemingly confirmed his blossoming romance with the Hollywood A-lister.
Pictured in a sharp suit with the American songstress cuddled into him, it was a far cry from the rugby line-up photos of times gone by.
For many who remember Evans as the formidable Scotland winger, known for his ruthless determination, intelligent play and astounding pace up the pitch, the image of him pouting and embracing his new superstar love may seem slightly surprising.
However, his appearance among the Tinseltown glitterati is just the latest step in Evans’ remarkable conversion from humble sportsman to international celebrity.
He had been hailed as one of the best Scottish players of our time but he was forced to retire from the sport due to an injury in 2010 which almost cost him his life.
Since then, Evans, 34, has worked tirelessly to boost his star status.
In the last ten years, Evans has shapeshifted from sportsman to model and actor to TV personality.
After finding love at the beginning of the decade with glamour model Kelly Brook, he became an unexpected fixture of glossy magazines pages.
With a bolstered public profile, he was able to take part in a number of reality TV shows, including Strictly Come Dancing and most recently The X Factor: Celebrity.
While he appeared in the latter programme at the end of last year, he became close with A-lister Scherzinger of girlband Pussycat Dolls fame – the most well-known of his partners to date.
The Pussycat Dolls has been named one of the best-selling girl groups of all time and Scherzinger has also had a successful solo singing career. In 2015, she was nominated for an Olivier Award for best supporting actress in a musical for her role in the West End’s Cats.
On Simon Cowell’s latest spin-off show, Evans was part of an all-singing rugby player band, Try Star, while Scherzinger, 41, was a judge.
Sources have suggested Evans had his sights set on Scherzinger from the beginning, and had been bidding for the American superstar’s affections for six years.
It’s been said Evans first attempted to approach the singer at a gala in 2014, but failed to win her over.
One friend told reporters: ‘He’s been after Nicole for some time and was confident that spending so much time in her company would give him the opportunity to woo her. In the end, she couldn’t resist Thom’s charms, despite the fact she was meant to be judging him.’
A cynic would say going on The X Factor: Celebrity was his chance to finally secure Scherzinger and in so doing, break the world stage.
Fans might simply see Evans’ pursuit of the star as the epitome of Hollywood romance. But two weeks ago, as he rubbed shoulders with A-listers on the red carpet, Evans certainly looked like the cat who had got the cream.
WHILE Evans’ shared the picture of the couple with his 146,000 Instagram followers, Scherzinger beamed it out to her 4.2 million. Since that first picture, Evans’ has gained more than 8,000 followers on the social media platform – taking him up to 154,000 – perhaps in part due to a number of newly-uploaded ‘couple’ snaps. One video shared on the site shows Evans and Scherzinger doing a short dance routine, to the delight of fans.
Another upload seemingly confirms that the pair spent New Year together in a chic hotel in Mexico.
The couple are pictured in the swimming pool of Nobu Hotel in Los Cabos, a celebrity hotspot which charges more than £400 a night for a deluxe double room with an ocean view.
The image was ‘liked’ 43,500 times. It is a reach that Evans could surely never have dreamed of as an aspiring rugby player.
Born in Harare, Zimbabwe, Evans and elder brother Max – also a Scottish rugby ace – wanted to emulate siblings Gavin and Scott Hastings.
Evans started his career playing for England through all age groups up to senior level and was recruited to London Wasps in 2004.
But despite his English upbringing – he attended Wellington College in Berkshire – his paternal grandfather Fred Thom was Glaswegian, meaning he and his brother qualified to play for Scotland.
He moved to Glasgow Warriors in 2006, before making his international debut against Argentina in June 2008 and winning ten caps in two years.
But Evans’ world fell apart when, in a Scotland match against Wales in 2010, he sustained a neck injury
On the red carpet, he looked like the cat who’d got the cream
that nearly cost him his life. A tackle knocked his vertebrae so badly that the then 24-year-old was just one millimetre from death or paralysis and he was forced to give up his rugby career.
Devastated, he said at the time: ‘I will always remember that day in Cardiff that ended my career.
‘The only other thing I have left is my boots. I have not washed them. They are covered in blood, in a box. I will keep them forever. I look at them and remember how lucky I was to play for Scotland. And how lucky I am to be alive.’
Vowing to move on, defiant Evans that same year was introduced to glamour model Kelly Brook at the height of her fame.
The starstruck sportsman described meeting her as ‘overwhelming’ because ‘every guy had posters of her on their walls’.
The pair began dating, launching Evans into the celebrity spotlight. He swapped muddy pitches for red carpets to attend high-profile events with Brook. With his defined features and hazel eyes, the cameras loved him. Brook, who became his fiancée, is said to have encouraged him to become a model.
AND he was in demand, travelling the world for photoshoots. He said: ‘I am enjoying the challenges modelling and acting brings. Similar to being a sportsman, (it) demands discipline and structure. You get out what you put in.’
By the time he and Brook ended their romance in 2013, Evans was on the way to becoming a household name. He then focused on the next stage of his career – to transform into a TV personality.
In 2014, he took part in Strictly Come Dancing alongside stars such as radio DJ Scott Mills and tennis coach supreme Judy Murray – who reportedly nicknamed him ‘Tiger’. Evans was partnered with Lithuanian-born professional dancer Iveta Lukosiute and delighted fans with the salsa and the cha-cha. Some may have been surprised by the muscular ex-rugby player’s musicality and rhythm, but it was later revealed it was not Evans’ first time performing. In 2004, he had taken an unusual gap year from rugby to join a boyband called Twen2y 4Se7en and toured with big names such as Westlife and McFly.
He told Hello! magazine at the time: ‘We performed in front of thousands of people so performing isn’t totally alien to me.
‘When I was at Wellington College, I did a show where I did my Ricky Martin impression, complete with leather pants.’
He was the fourth celebrity to leave the show after losing a dance-off to boyband Blue star Simon Webbe.
But so incredible was Evans’ first foray into reality TV, he decided to go on Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls in 2016. Dropped on an inhospitable island off the coast of Panama, Central America, with just the clothes they were wearing, knives and jerrycans of water, ten celebrities spent a month foraging for food and trying to stay alive.
Evans quit after just one episode as he said he’d lost two stone and was hardly able to stand after a week without eating.
X Factor: Celebrity was perhaps a chance to redeem himself.
Now billed as a ‘TV personality’ in his own right, Evans joined forces with fellow former rugby players Ben Foden and Levi Davis to form singing group Try Star.
They made it to the semi-final, but there were whispers that their time on the show was cut short due to a secret romance between Evans and judge Scherzinger.
For Scherzinger, dating a British sportsman is not uncharted territory, as her most significant ex in recent years has been F1 champion Lewis Hamilton.
But for Evans, it is surely his greatest foray into the world stage to date.