Thom Evans (born 2 April 1985) is a Scottish former

international International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player and model. He last played on the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

for

Glasgow Warriors Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and became t ...

in the

Celtic League The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organisation, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places part ...

. Evans's rugby career ended aged 24 on his tenth appearance for Scotland when he suffered a serious neck injury.

Rugby career

Evans was born in 1985, the second of two sons, in

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

, and educated at

Windlesham House School Windlesham House School is an independent boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 4 to 13 on the South Downs, in Pulborough, West Sussex, England. It was founded in 1837 by Charles Robert Malden and was the first boys' preparatory schoo ...

and

Wellington College, Berkshire Wellington College is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in the village of Crowthorne, Berkshire, England. Wellington is a registered charity and currently educates roughly 1,200 pupils, between the ages of 13 and ...

. He earned his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

for the Scottish rugby union side in June 2008 vs

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. He was selected in the pre 6 Nations 30-man squad for the 2008 Six Nations. Evans represented England at U16, U18 and U21 level. He chose to commit to Scotland at

A level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

and at 7's. He could have played for the England 7's team but was ruled out through injury. Evans was a member of pop band Twen2y4Se7en and toured as a support act with

McFly McFly are an English pop rock band formed in London in 2003. The band took their name from the '' Back to the Future'' character Marty McFly. The band consists of Tom Fletcher (lead vocals, guitar, and piano), Danny Jones (lead vocals, har ...

Peter Andre Peter Andre (born Peter James Andrea, 27 February 1973) is an English-Australian singer and television personality of Australian descent. Andre gained popularity as a singer, best known for his singles "Mysterious Girl" and " Flava". He is als ...

and

Westlife Westlife is an Irish pop vocal group formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1998. The group currently consists of members Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, and Nicky Byrne. Brian McFadden was a member, until he left in 2004. The group temporarily di ...

throughout 2004. In the Six Nations game against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

on 13 February 2010, Evans suffered a severe neck injury after colliding with Welsh player

Lee Byrne Lee Byrne (born 1 June 1980) is a Welsh former professional rugby union and rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. Club career Byrne started his career playing rugby union for Bridgend Athletic RFC; and Tondu RFC, as a ful ...

. He was stretchered off the pitch and taken to hospital to receive treatment. He underwent a neck operation that evening, and underwent a second operation to further stabilise his spine later that week. It was revealed that his cervical vertebrae had been knocked so badly out of alignment that he was a millimetre from paralysis or death. After four months of rehabilitation, Evans was forced to retire on 1 July 2010, after accepting medical advice. Evans officially announced his retirement from all codes of rugby after the Wales v

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

test match in the Autumn Internationals of 2010. After a touchline interview with television presenter

Hazel Irvine Hazel Irvine (born 24 May 1965) is a Scottish sports presenter. Early life Irvine was born in St Andrews, Scotland. Educated at Hermitage Academy in Helensburgh, she achieved an MA in History of Art at the University of St. Andrews, and comp ...

, Evans outlined his intentions to return to the sprinting circuit, in the hope of other athletic success. In 2012, Evans, coached by Margot Wells, kick-started his athletic campaign competing in indoor competitions and finished fourth in the Scottish Senior Championships with a personal best of 7.20 for the 60m. During the outdoor season, he ran personal bests of 11.26 for the 100m and 23.14 for the 200m respectively. However, by the end of the season, Evans decided that he would not continue with athletics choosing instead to pursue an acting career.

Media career

Evans was an analyst for

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

's coverage of the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Af ...

. In September 2014, Evans was a contestant in BBC's twelfth series of ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...

'' partnered with Lithuanian professional Iveta Lukosiute. He was voted out in the 5th week. In 2016, Evans participated in the first series of the TV show ''

Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls ''Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls'' is a spin-off series of '' The Island with Bear Grylls''. It was first broadcast on Channel 4 as part of a charity campaign for Stand Up to Cancer UK in September 2016. The show has the same format as ''The ...

'', with celebrity contestants attempting to survive for 10 days on a remote island. He left the island early citing difficulties dealing with the lack of food. In October 2019, Evans was a contestant in '' The X Factor: Celebrity'' as a member of the group, Try Star, alongside Levi Davis and

Ben Foden Benjamin James Foden (born 22 July 1985) is an English rugby union player who plays for Rugby United New York (RUNY) in Major League Rugby (MLR). A fullback or scrum-half, he won 34 caps for England between 2009 and 2013. He also plays as a W ...

. They were eliminated in the semi-final after landing in the bottom two with V5. However, Try Star received more votes than V5 meaning if the result went to deadlock, Try Star would have advanced to the final and V5 would have been eliminated. They finished in fifth place.

Personal life

Evans's brother Max also played rugby for Scotland and

. They are the twentieth set of brothers to play together for Scotland. They are both featured in a nude photoshoot for the 2010 ''Dieux du Stade'' calendar. In 2011, he appeared on cereal boxes for

Scott's Porage Oats Scott's Porage Oats is a Scottish food company that manufactures breakfast cereal (a brand of porridge) in the United Kingdom. It was established in Glasgow by A&R Scott, two brothers who made a partnership to manufacture oat products. Scott's w ...

along with

Chris Paterson Christopher Douglas Paterson, MBE (born 30 March 1978) is an ambassador and specialist coach for the Scotland and Edinburgh rugby union teams. He is a former professional rugby union player who played for Scotland and, for the most part of h ...

and

Ross Ford Ross William Ford (born 23 April 1984) is a Strength and Conditioning coach for the Scottish Rugby Academy. He was previously a Scotland international rugby union player who played as a hooker. He made 110 test appearances for Scotland, mak ...

. Evans is a cousin of disc jockey Chris Evans.

Relationships

Evans was romantically linked with actress

Kelly Brook Kelly Ann Parsons (born 23 November 1979), known professionally as Kelly Brook, is an English model, actress, and media personality. She is known for her modelling work in the UK, and in the US for her role as Prudence on the NBC sitcom '' On ...

. On 16 March 2011, Brook announced, via her Twitter account, that she was pregnant and that she and Evans were expecting a daughter. On 9 May 2011, it was reported that Brook had miscarried. Brook announced on 1 February 2013 via Twitter that she and Evans had broken up. In January 2020, it was reported that Evans was dating singer

Nicole Scherzinger Nicole Scherzinger (; born Nicole Prascovia Elikolani Valiente, June 29, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and television personality. She is best known as the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls, one of the best-selling g ...

, having met on ''The X Factor: Celebrity'' the previous year.

References

External links

Glasgow profileScotland profileWasps profilePower of 10 Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Thom 1985 births Living people Sportspeople from Harare Scottish rugby union players Scottish male models Wasps RFC players Glasgow Warriors players People educated at Merchiston Castle School People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire Scotland international rugby union players Male rugby sevens players Scotland international rugby sevens players Scotland 'A' international rugby union players People educated at Windlesham House School