Rikkie Valerie Kollé is the first openly trans woman to win the Dutch pageant (Picture: Splash)

Rikkie Valerie Kollé has been crowned Miss Netherlands 2023, making history as the first openly trans woman to ever take home the crown.

Wearing a floor-length red gown with a thigh-high slit, Kollé, 22, won the beauty pageant on Saturday and will compete in Miss Universe later this year in El Salvador.

Previous winner Ona Moody and reigning Miss Universe, R’Bonney Gabriel of the US, handed Kollé the coveted sash at the AFAS Theater in Leusden.

Kollé, from Breda, a city in the North Brabant province, cliched the title after impressing the jury with her ‘iron strong story’ and ‘clear mission’.

‘I did it!’ the model wrote on Instagram after becoming the first trans Miss Netherlands in the competition’s 94-year history.

‘It’s unreal but I get to call myself [Miss Netherlands] 2023. It was an educational and beautiful journey, my year can’t be broken anymore.

Reigning Miss Universe R’Bonney Gabriel crowned Kollé (Picture: MEGA)

Kollé said it was ‘unreal’ that she won (Picture: Hollandse Hoogte/Shutterstock)