Mr Gay Europe 2017 is England’s Matt Rood (37), a professional dog walker and dog trainer.
Matt won the Social Media Challenge (SoMe) and “My Project” challenge, he came second in the preliminary interview, the photo challenge and the sports challenge, and he came third in the written test and forth in the online vote. His total score came to 845 out of maximum 1200.
The result was made official at Pride Park in Stockholm, Sweden, during Stockholm Pride, 5 August 2017.
– Matt Rood is one of the most dedicated and hardworking gay activist that I have had the honor to get to know through Mr Gay Europe, Tore Aasheim, the MGE president, comments.
– With his big heart, his kind attitude but also strong devotion, and with a project that shows that he really put his money where his mouth is, Matt both showed us his commitment and the fact that you don’t need to be a twink to win Mr Gay Europe, Aasheim says.
In a statement that he submitted prior to the competition Matt Rood wrote:
Taking part would enable me to use this as a platform to help promote equality in the adoption and fostering services. As a former foster carer and an out and proud gay man I have knowledge and experience of this subject and would like to encourage a positive attitude globally. This opportunity has excited me from the very first moment.
Ireland and Scotland
Number two and the first runner up for the title is Stephen Lehane (24), Mr Gay Ireland. He is working in Human Resources at Google European Headquarters. Stephen’s campaign is an activist tool kit. His total score came to 815.
Number three and the second runner up for the title is Steven Whyte (39), Mr Gay Scotland. Steven is a lawyer and his campaign focuses on the fact “that we all come in shapes and sizes and that’s really okay while promoting the wellness benefits of fitness and a healthy and balanced lifestyle.” Steven’s total score came to 755.
Mr Gay Wales, Ben Brown, came 4th; Mr Gay Portugal, Joao De Oliveira, came 5th and Mr Germany, Nico Wirachman, came 6th.
In the days to come the results from the different challenges will be published on Mr Gay Europe’s web site as a part of the organization’s transparency policy.
Here is the list of the winners in each challenge:
Preliminary interview: Ireland
“My Project” (The delegates pitches projects and programs they want to promote in the year to come.): England
Sports Challenge: Germany
Written Test: Scotland
Mr Gay Congeniality: Wales
Photo Challenge: Germany
Social Media: England
Online vote: Scotland
Each challenge is vectored from 5 – 20 percent; the interview and the online vote both being vectored 20 percent. To win the competition the delegates should should win two – three challenges and come two and three in several others.