Backstage at the Mr. Greek God competition, two men in togas hurried to get ready as the rest of the contestants strutted on stage.

One of the men, Louisville senior Clay Simpson, a Phi Gamma Delta fraternity member representing Sigma Kappa sorority, stood still as his girlfriend, Paducah senior Katie Knecht, pinned his toga together.

Simpson — whose act included balanced razorblades and doing the worm in a penguin costume — earned himself the title of Mr. Greek God at the philanthropy pageant hosted by Alpha Gamma Delta tonight in Garret Ballroom.

Knecht said she was nervous waiting for the results.

“Whenever they were about to call it, they said from Fiji, and I was like, ‘Please be Clay! Please be Clay!’ because he worked really hard,” Knecht said. “He was really nervous because he doesn’t like to show off in front of people and he always gets put into situations like that because he’s just like, huge and muscular.”

Simpson and ten other Greek men competed in three categories: letter wear, talent and toga wear.

The AGDs said this year’s attendance was higher than previous years.

Nashville senior Alyssia Fuller said the pageant was standing room only.

“Last year we had a lot, but not this amount,” Fuller said. “We actually ordered extra chairs, and even with the extra chairs, we still had people standing up.”

Alpha Xi Delta won the award for having the most affiliated members.

Tickets to the pageant were $3 with proceeds going toward the Alpha Gamma Delta Foundation.

The Greek God competition has gone through growing pains in its three years.

Last year’s competition included men and women from the Greek system, but this year only men were allowed to participate.

Fort Mitchell sophomore Jordan Hill, an AGD member, said she was glad the pageant focused on the men.

“There’s so many girl pageants,” she said. “We need to get the guys out there and have them go through what we went through.”

Hill said this was her first year at the pageant.

“I was expecting a normal pageant scene,” she said. “But this was a lot more fun and upbeat than I thought it would be.”