Viewing: www.womenshealthmag.com

Interviewing Ellie Kildunne feels a bit like getting an entrepreneurial masterclass from a Gen Z brand founder. Social media? I love it. Its a chance to share your personality and inspire. Trolls? I see it as market research, she shrugs. [If they] say Im bad at tackling, thats a driver for me. Okay, fine. Ill get better at tackling. As for rage bait offensive comments intended to rile a war of words? I roll my eyes, she dismisses. Theres a few [people] that hate me or hate the way I play, and Im like, Youre still watching, though! You do know that if youre going to comment [on my posts], my face is going to be all over [your feed], she says, grinning at the thought of the algorithm trolling her trolls right back.

But to focus on haters is to miss the point. When the star full-back for England and Harlequins posted a carousel from a recent appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show, her followers applauded the authenticity of rocking a mini dress with a visible graze on her knee (down to earth in every sense). Back in December, Heathrow Airport made Ellie its inaugural Voice of Britain where a star whos made a standout contribution to British culture takes over the tannoy and broadcasts to 7 million travellers. Mattel even immortalised her in Barbie form, complete with curly hair and a nose ring (spot on, Ellie approves).

Such recognition beyond her sport summons the full gamut of Gen Z success vernacular, from aura harvesting and main character energy to being the voice of a generation. And while some sportspeople tackle off-pitch duties with all the cheer of a first-round defeat, Ellies as at-home in front of a camera as she is sprinting up the pitch of her home stadium in Twickenham.

I used to watch Britains Got Talent and The X Factor and I did want to be famous, I wanted to put on a show for people. Put on a show, she does post-try celebrations reliably feature a cowboy dance and she marked Englands World Cup win back in September by buying a tattoo gun and committing the year of their victory to the left wrist of her boss, Red Roses coach John Mitchell. Once upon a time, you could be in a room saying you play for England and people would still not give a shit. Ive always said, Were not just players, were people. Show them the person. Excuse me while I take notes for my own socials strategy.

[ellie kildunne, photographed for women's health uk]

Grounded

Today, Im seeing a slower side to the 26-year- old. Adored for showmanship not seen since Chloe Kellys penalty kicks the speed of a track athlete, the footwork of a dancer and the agility to outmanoeuvre opponents like Pac-Man on three espressos 2024s World Rugby Womens 15s Player of the Year is stuck in an emergency Airbnb. Our call was originally scheduled to coincide with a car journey from Reading to London a window of time it took two weeks of email tennis to arrange, such is the status of womens rugby right now. Then Donald Trump waged war on Iran and the airspace above Dubai where Ellie had spent a week with four other players was closed.

Three of the players had flown back earlier, but Ellie arrived at the airport for her flight home to find operations shut and, equally unforeseen, a group of boys wanting fist bumps and photos. I have it in my head [that] boys my age wont care, because they grew up at the same time as me, so wont have seen much womens sport. So its super cool to be recognised by those people. Less cool that, alongside 140,000 stranded Brits, shes going nowhere fast. But Ellie remains upbeat; delivering a quip more quintessentially British than eye-rolling a queue jumper. Ill come back super tanned, she says, shielding squinting eyes from sun on the balcony. Above all, she feels safe. We havent heard bangs [from anti-missile defences] since yesterday.

What to Read Next

But when your modus operandi is full send Relaxing? I see relaxing as not running sitting still is hard. Even via Zoom, I sense the timer towards cabin fever is ticking. Occasionally fidgeting with a necklace or springs of bouncy curls, shes itching to run outside, play padel or train with a local football team. She cant; UAE government advice being to stay indoors where possible. This was due to be one of the busiest weeks Ive had so far and I feel helpless because Im sat on a balcony in Dubai when I should be here, there and everywhere. But we have to think about safety, she acknowledges, before adding. Ill probably end up in a rickety helicopter somewhere [to get out]. Im 50% sure shes joking.

[ellie kildunne, photographed for women's health uk]

Game on

That busyness is a by-product of a staggeringly successful six months. First came that World Cup win made all the more goosebumpy for being on home turf and featuring a try-for-the-ages in the final made possible by Ellie outpacing seven of Canadas players. The nations admiration rewarded her with second place in the BBCs public-voted Sports Personality of the Year (she was pipped to the post by golf legend Rory McIlroy, 10 years her senior), followed by an MBE in the Kings New Year Honours. This April, her autobiography Game Changer will be published and two days later shell start Englands defence of the prestigious Six Nations trophy. You wouldnt blame her for feeling a tad smug, given the career advice she was once handed. Ive been told by teachers and well-known coaches that womens rugby is not a thing, so why would you be throwing away your education for that?

Reading like a coming-of-age novel, her story began with the boys next door. She was six and living in a farmhouse in West Yorkshire when, one day, the neighbours she regularly kicked a football around with went to rugby training. Ellie tagged along and a romance blossomed, the suitor being an oval-shaped ball. For years, she was the lone girl infiltrating boys teams. Any first time was persuasion. Any second time was, We need her on the team. Then, aged 16, she told her parents she wanted to do her A-levels at Hartpury College a major talent pathway for future England players. People think youre either sporty or youre intelligent, you cant be both, she tells me, of why she lobbied to go to a school three hours from her home. I wanted to be successful in my studies and in my sport. That she was. In autumn 2017, she started a degree in sport and exercise science at St Marys University in Twickenham, while simultaneously making her England debut. Naturally, she scored.

Today, playing at club level for Harlequins and with 57 England appearances at the time of this issue going to press, Ellies still dumbstruck that aside from a single Christmas stint working at Sports Direct rugby is her sole salaried profession. If you said to me a couple of years ago, These are the opportunities that are going to come up, I would have thought you were pulling my leg. It highlights how quickly the sport has excelled into a space thats in households and not just in the niche of womens rugby. Quite. Last years World Cup games had triple the attendance of previous tournaments and the win has drawn comparisons with the Lionesses Euros victory in 2022 in terms of the down-stream impact its having at a grassroots level. Its all part of the plan, Ellie confirms. Everythings driven towards a single goal: to inspire, to change the game, to see how far we can take it whether thats on the pitch, in front of a camera or behind a microphone.

[ellie kildunne, photographed for women's health uk]

Model behaviour

That Ellie is so adept at occupying space feels all the more significant given societys shrinking feeling (see: the proliferation of GLP-1s among those with nothing to lose, the loss of diverse body types on catwalks, the tradwiferegression I could go on). Im curious what she makes of the apparent move away from visibly strong women like herself into delicate iterations. I do think this world is no place to ever be shrunken in. No one should feel like they have to shrink physically or mentally, like being the quietest in the room, because of whats socially accepted around you, she tells me, measured and impeccably articulate. It upsets me to see that U-turn because it can be dangerous having role models who arent diverse, whether thats size, skin tone, age everyone needs someone they can look up to, and there needs to be somebody for everybody. But she adds, keen not to dwell when we could solve. I dont think its something we cant get back.

On the question of how, shes clear: visibility is everything. Womens sport is in a place its never been in and, as female athletes, weve got to keep on being ambassadors for brands and pushing that space, she continues. Not being scared to show our muscles; not being scared to show the rolls on your tummy or the cellulite in your legs. Show all of it off. I believe in having a healthy, functional body. That functionality, she is clear, looks different on everyone. Thats not me saying that people have to be athletic and look the way that I look, because look at my rugby team not everyone looks the way that I look and everyone is active and strong. I think its your lifestyle and what your lifestyle looks like.

Not naturally regimented in anything, her own health and fitness routines the ones written to keep her at the top of her game can, ironically, derail her. While away at rugby camps for weeks on end with near-identical days, shed struggle to sleep and become so bored of repetitive meals that she wouldnt want to eat. In 2024, she got evaluated for ADHD. I knew I struggled in some areas getting overstimulated and not being able to focus. I knew we had a World Cup [coming up] so I just got tested. It wasnt to have an excuse, it was so I could put some systems in place to improve and get better. When the diagnosis came, she did just that; It didnt change anything. It just gave me this understanding that Im not the same as other people. Theres something wired in me that means I need to make sure Ive done something to stimulate myself [every day]. When its food getting repetitive, its having a conversation with the nutritionist. If its communication, I know I can talk and talk and talk, [but] the person probably just needs three points. Simple, find three points.

[ellie kildunne, photographed for women's health uk]

Team work

This forensic approach ladders up to one goal. If I havent put the work in, if Ive skipped reps, if I havent eaten the right amount for the game, I would feel anxious. But Ive never put myself in that position because I want to be the best. What does being the best mean to her? I want to become world player of the year twice. Thats my focus. Anything else that happens is by the by. It can feel slightly confronting to hear the undiluted advocacy that elite athletes specialise in; a self- confidence that transcends the taught laws of modesty. But isnt it also brilliant? Ellie isnt arrogant. Shes one of us (she loves a British crime drama); shes generous and warm, but shes also razor sharp and unapologetically ambitious. Shell have fun and shell outsmart someone. Shes chaotic and collected. Shes extremely hard to label and I think shed shake her head at me for trying.

I ask if, after match wins, she can let loose like she did before she was famous. I still have a good time, though if someone is recording my horrible dancing, thatd be Strictly Come Dancing out the window (BBC producers: shed love to but good luck finding a gap in her schedule). Shes also learning to protect her boundaries. Theres sometimes an element of, I want to be left alone with the team now. Its new for me and everyone else as well, and Ive learned to say, No, sorry, not today, Im going to be with my girls. The primary school kid with eyes on The X Factor, it seems, has found her girl band. My besties, she smiles, when I ask what team sport brings her. In the days when I dont feel like pushing myself, I look at them and it makes me want to push myself for them. If were going to put our bodies through hell and get smashed by people and do all this crazy stuff, why do we do it? I do it because the people next to me would do the exact same thing for me. For anyone thinking of bringing Ellie down, nice try.