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 football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player and model. He last played on the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

for

Glasgow Warriors The 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 beca ...

in the Celtic League. 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 city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

, 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 sc ...

and

Wellington College, Berkshire Wellington College is a co-educational public school providing education for boarding and day pupils in the village of Crowthorne, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. Wellington is a registered charity and currently educates roughly 1,100 pu ...

, England. He earned his first

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for the Scottish rugby union side in June 2008 vs

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. 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 ...

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 a British pop rock band formed in London in 2003. The band took their name from the ''Back to the Future (franchise), Back to the Future'' character Marty McFly. The band consists of Tom Fletcher (lead vocals, guitar, and piano), Da ...

Peter Andre Peter Andre (born Peter James Andrea; 27 February 1973) is a British-Australian singer, songwriter, and media personality. Born in England to Cypriot parents and raised in Australia, Andre achieved success in the mid-1990s as a singer, topping ...

and

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throughout 2004. In the Six Nations game against

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

on 13 February 2010, Evans suffered a severe neck injury after colliding with Welsh player Lee Byrne. 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 Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

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

Hazel Irvine Hazel Jane Irvine (born 24 May 1965) is a Scottish sports presenter. Principally working for the BBC, Irvine has presented the Summer Olympic Games, Summer and Winter Olympic Games, Winter Olympics, the Commonwealth Games, the Triple Crown (sn ...

, 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'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 World Rugby, International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japa ...

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

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (commonly referred to as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly Ballroom dance, ballroom and Latin dance, Latin dance. Each couple is ...

'' 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'', 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 Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

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 along with Chris Paterson and Ross Ford. Evans is a cousin of disc jockey Chris Evans.

Relationships

In January 2020, it was reported that Evans was dating singer

Nicole Scherzinger Nicole Prascovia Elikolani Scherzinger ( ; ; born June 29, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and television personality. She was a member of the girl group and dance ensemble the Pussycat Dolls between 2003 and 2010. With ...

, having met on ''The X Factor: Celebrity'' the previous year. In June 2023, it was reported that Evans and Scherzinger are engaged.

References

External links

Glasgow profileScotland profileWasps profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Thom 1985 births Living people Rugby union players 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 Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union wings