In a two-hour exclusive 20/20 sit-down interview with Diane Sawyer that aired on Friday (April 24), Bruce Jenner revealed that he is a transgender woman.
“For all intents and purposes, I am a woman,” Jenner told Sawyer in the interview.
The one-to-one talk began with Sawyer and the former Olympian sitting down in his Malibu home and Sawyer asking, “Are you ready?”
“You know what? It’s going to be tough. I’ve been thinking about this day forever and what I should do with my life,” Jenner said. “How do I tell my story? How do I tell people what I’ve been through? And that day is sad.”
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Jenner asked for tissues before explaining how he told his kids about his feelings, explaining that God looked down at “little Bruce” and gave him something that he had to deal with: “the soul of a female.”
The 65-year-old told Sawyer that he dislikes the phrase “girl stuck in a guy’s body” before explaining, “I’m me. I’m not stuck in anybody’s body.”
Jenner went on to say that his brain, and soul, is much more female than it is male before he took out his ponytail: “let’s take the damn ponytail out.”
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When Sawyer asked about Jenner the athlete, he admitted, “I see a confused person at that time running away from my life,” but now wants to “kick butt” as a woman.
The veteran journalist asked Jenner about his transition being a publicity stunt, to which he replied, “Are you telling me I’m going to go through a complete gender change…for publicity?” He continued: “What I’m doing is going to do some good and we’re going to change the world.”
“My whole life has been getting me ready for this. It’s not just the last few years,” Jenner said after Sawyer brought up his time on Keeping Up With the Kardashians, adding, “I just can’t pull the curtain any longer.”
He went on explain that a doctor first prescribed female hormones to him in the 1980s, when his sister found out about his feelings, but never passed on the information to anyone. Jenner said that he has always dreamed as a woman.
When asked about third wife, Kris Jenner — who knew about him taking the hormones and occasionally wearing female clothing when they met — the father of six biological children said, “I loved Kris. I had a wonderful life with her. I learned a lot from her,” before admitting, “I thought we had a pretty good sex life.” He said that the news was “tough” on Kris, but she’s still “a good woman.”
Sawyer asked about how each of his children reacted to the news and Jenner explained that “those are the only ones I’m concerned with,” adding, “I can’t let myself hurt them.” Jenner said that although he is transitioning, he assured his children, “I’m dad. You can call me dad. I will always be your dad.”
Jenner’s 33-year-old son, Brandon (who Bruce described as “little Gandhi”) was the first to find out about the news. He told Sawyer, “I’m not handling this perfect. I’m just doing my best to cope with what’s going on.”
Jenner said that Khloe Kardashian is taking the news the hardest out of each of his daughters: “She’s had a lot of losses in her life,” referring to the death of her father and separation from husband Lamar Odom.
According to Jenner, Kim Kardashian is the easiest to talk to about his transition, and her husband, Kanye West, played a pivotal role in her acceptance. Jenner explained that West told his wife he can have a beautiful wife and beautiful daughter, but has nothing if he is unable to be himself. “Girl, you gotta rock it baby,” Jenner says Kim told him. Kim also asked Jenner if he was a tomboy, which he replied, “Wow, I never thought of myself like that, but yeah, maybe I could be.”
The former KUWTK reality star revealed that he is a Republican and would champion for the transgender cause “in a heartbeat” and a song that he plays over and again in his mind is Tom Jones’ “She’s a Lady.”
Jenner told Sawyer that he has not decided, and is in “no rush,” on anything yet in regards to sexual reassignment surgery, but that it “would be down the line.” He has chosen “asexual for now,” and revealed he has “never been with a guy” and “I am not gay.”
ABC announced the in-depth interview on April 6, two months following his Feb. 7 accident on Pacific Coast Highway in which 69-year-old Kim Howe was killed.
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.