BRUCE JENNER OPENS UP
LOS ANGELES — Bruce Jenner came out as transgender Friday night on ABC News’ “20/20” in an interview with Diane Sawyer.
After much speculation, the former Olympian who was previously married to Kardashian matriarch Kris Jenner confirmed, “I am a woman.”
“My whole life has been getting me ready for this. It’s not just the last few years, as they’ve been treating me, as a joke,” Mr. Jenner said, referring to the heavy tabloid press, which has surrounded him. “My whole life has prepared me for this moment so I want to take advantage of it and do the right thing.”
The Friday night interview is the final TV spot Mr. Jenner will appear as “Bruce.” He says from now on, he will continue his life as “myself.” Wiping away his tears, he said, “Bruce lives a lie...she is not a lie. I can’t do it anymore.”
Mr. Jenner explains that he still is, and always has been, attracted to women.
“No, I am not gay,” he said, adding that he has never been attracted to men. “I am, as far as I know, heterosexual. … I’ve always been married, raising kids.”
Adding that the first person he revealed his secret to was his first wife, Chrystie Crownover, Mr. Jenner said, “sexuality was totally different than what my issues were. I always felt heterosexual.” He told Ms. Crownover that he was cross-dressing, recalling, “I had bigger issues than just cross-dressing.”
His second marriage to actress Linda Thompson dissolved because of his issues and pain. “My gender was a big part of the breakup.”
Mr. Jenner acknowledged that he began to take hormones in the 1980s and continued to do so for five years. Then, he started to get facial reconstructive surgery.
In the 1980s, Mr. Jenner also confided in his sister, who sat down with Ms. Sawyer during the interview. “I never told a soul for 30-plus years,” she said. “I thought maybe it was just a passing phase … you don’t get over this.”
When he told his mom, Mr. Jenner said that he assured her she did not do anything wrong. It’s just how he was born.
Why didn’t Mr. Jenner come out as transgender early in his life? He explained he could not bare to hurt his children or face to media firestorm. “‘You’ve just got no guts,’ ” is what Mr. Jenner would tell himself, and continued to crossdress. He admits he would wear dresses and walk around in public because he felt trapped in the wrong body.
When Mr. Jenner met Kris Jenner, she knew.
The Olympian says he had been taking hormones for years so he had a “good 36B,” referring to his breasts. He was also crossdressing, and the Kardashian mogul knew — but was not aware of the deep-rooted extent of his torment.
“I loved Kris. I had a wonderful life with her. I learned a lot from her,” Mr. Jenner said of his ex-wife, who declined to comment to ABC News.
Ms. Sawyer asked Mr. Jenner about the “Keeping Up with the Kardashian” craze, curious if he regrets doing the series, which follows the famous family — Kris, Kourtney, Kim, Khloe, Rob, Kendall and Kylie — on E!
“I had the story,” Mr. Jenner coyly said, bursting into laughter.
“The entire run, I kept thinking to myself, ‘Oh my god, this whole thing, the one real true story in the family, was the one I was hiding and nobody knew about it.’ The one thing that could really make a difference in people’s lives was right here in my soul, and I could not tell that story.”
With his attachment to the Kardashian family, paparazzi began to follow Mr. Jenner’s every move — especially with his changing appearance. He recalls when he had his trachea shaved to reduce the size of his Adam’s apple, and someone leaked the story and waiting outside his appointment with a camera.
After that moment, Mr. Jenner considered suicide. “I thought, ‘It’s, like, over.’ ”
‘My whole life has been getting me ready for this’