He’s been Welsh rugby’s poster boy for the past decade – now Mike Phillips could be strutting his stuff on the catwalk.
The 32-year-old might soon be fronting advertising campaigns for major retailers like M&S after signing with a top London modelling agency.
The Wales and British Lions legend is not the first rugby player to find a second career in the world of modelling and endorsements – former Scottish international Thom Evans and New Zealand’s Dan Carter have both advertised underwear.
But he is the first international player to sign for MOT Models, based on New Bond Street, delighting managing director Mike Illes.
“Mike is very confident in his own body, which is a great asset in this business, and he is also a nice guy,” he said.
“We have a sporting section in our business and we have used rugby players extensively in the past, although we’ve never had an international player before.
“Mike is a nice name to have in our portfolio.
“We aren’t an agency that puts models on the catwalk, but we do have links with many high street shops and brands and Mike could well figure there.
“But we also do a lot of work with advertising agencies and we see a lot of work in that area for Mike.”
The Racing 92 scrum half flew into London to sign with the 30-year-old agency last week following 10 days of altitude training with the Welsh world-cup squad in the Swiss Alpsand two days away on another trip to Qatar.
Phillips announced his new partnership with MOT Models on Twitter and is expected to fly back to their Mayfair offices in central London from his playing base in Paris to carry out his future assignments.
MOT provide models to top photographers, advertisers, designers and production companies and many of their models have been used in worldwide advertising and commercial campaigns.
“Mike’s at an age where he could get quite a lot of work from us. He has a good look, great personality and all we need to do now is teach him to model really well – and quickly,” added Illes.
“He has a big following on Twitter, 184,000, and we will look to use that to his advantage as well.”
Carmarthen-born Phillips is Wales’ most capped scrum half with 93 appearances for his country.
He has also played in five Tests on two tours with the Lions.
He has played for Llanelli, the Scarlets, Blues, Ospreys and Bayonne in the past and made his internationals debut 12 years ago.
He is an ambassador for Breast Cancer Care Cymru and Patron of the @tweetfyd charity.
If Illes is right, it looks like Phillips could be just as much of a success off the field as on it and the modelling world could prove very lucrative too.
British male model David Gandy, the face of M&S, is the second highest-paid male model in the world earning an estimated £876,000.