Bye, Bruce
She certainly knows how to make an entrance! Caitlyn — formerly Bruce (r.) — Jenner graces the cover of the upcoming Vanity Fair.
MEET CAITLYN JENNER.
In a series of bombshell photos channeling old Hollywood glamour, the Olympic athlete formerly known as Bruce Jenner made her highly anticipated debut Monday in the new issue of Vanity Fair.
“Call me Caitlyn,” the simple headline read.
Jenner, 65, wore a cream satin corset over glowing alabaster skin in the stunning cover image captured by photographer Annie Leibovitz.
Her cleavage was accentuated by her feminine, expertly made-up face, long flowing locks and a slight smile on her closed lips.
“If I was lying on my deathbed and I had kept this secret and never ever did anything about it, I would be lying there saying, ‘You just blew your entire life,’ ” Jenner told interviewer Buzz Bissinger.
“Bruce always had to tell a lie. He was always living that lie. Every day he always had a secret, from morning till night,” she said in a video posted on the magazine’s website.
“Caitlyn doesn’t have any secrets,” she said.
A verified @Caitlyn_Jenner Twitter account also went live Monday and zoomed past the million-follower mark in a matter of hours, beating the record set by President Obama last month.
It took Obama nearly five hours to reach 1 million followers. Jenner knocked that out in just over four hours.
“I’m so happy after such a long struggle to be living my true self. Welcome to the world Caitlyn. Can’t wait for you to get to know her/me,” Jenner tweeted.
“My angel on earth!” daughter Kylie Jenner, 17, wrote as she reposted the cover image on Instagram.
“Be free now pretty bird,” model daughter Kendall Jenner, 19, tweeted after reposting the cover.
And stepdaughter Kim Kardashian chimed in.
“How beautiful! Be happy, be proud, live life YOUR way!” she wrote on Twitter as the Jenner news effectively eclipsed her own announcement she’s expecting baby No. 2 with hubby Kanye West.
But Kardashian didn’t seem to feel slighted.
“So beautiful, so proud, so glad it’s out!” she told reporters at the Council of Fashion Designers of America awards in New York on Monday night.
City residents also gave Caitlyn two thumbs up.
“I think it’s amazing. I think he’s finally being himself. A lot of people thought it was a publicity stunt, but I don’t think anyone would go that far for a publicity stunt,” Staten Island resident Robby Bither, 49, said in reaction.
Vanity Fair said Jenner underwent a 10-hour facial-feminization and breast augmentation surgery in Beverly Hills on March 15, weeks before an astounding 16.9 million viewers tuned in April 24 to watch her interview (photo below) with ABC’s Diane Sawyer.
The former Olympic gold medal winner admitted having a panic attack while medicated during her recovery, asking “What did I just do to myself?”
But the 15-second flash of self-doubt was a normal, momentary reaction that quickly passed and has not returned, she said. “You wonder if you are making all the right decisions,” Jenner told Bissinger during one of many interviews with the “Friday Night Lights” author. She recalled wearing pantyhose and a bra underneath her men’s suits as far back as the 1970s and said the transition was a long time coming.
“I’m not doing this to be interesting. I’m doing this to live,” Jenner said.
Jenner did not reveal any plans to have genital surgery, Vanity Fair reported.
Only about 50% of transgender women make the decision to undergo male-to-female genital reassignment surgery, Dr. Marci Bowers, a famed pioneer in the field who performs about 200 of the procedures each year, told the Daily News on Monday.
“Surgery doesn’t make the man or woman,” said Bowers, who is transgender.
She called Jenner’s Vanity Fair piece a triumph.
“I think it’s a beautiful example of what is possible,” Bowers said. “This is someone we’ve worshiped as an American hero, and we’re lucky to be privy to the very personal journey she’s shared with us.”
Experts also stress that sexual preference and gender identity are mutually exclusive.
According to Bissinger, Jenner’s sexual appetite was always exclusively for women, but she admitted she was unsure about the future. Either way, it’s not her biggest concern, she said.
“If you have a list of 10 reasons to transition, sex would be No. 10,” Jenner told the magazine.
On the topic of her third marriage, which ended in divorce last September, Jenner claimed ex-wife Kris Jenner knew about her cross-dressing and the hormones taken before their marriage that resulted in “good solid B cup” breasts.
Caitlyn Jenner said once “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” became a hit, Kris didn’t need her as much and “wasn’t very nice.”
Kris, meanwhile, insisted they never discussed Jenner’s gender dysphoria until after they separated.
“He wasn’t who he wanted to be so he was miserable,” Kris, 59, told Vanity Fair.
Jenner said the reason for their split was 20% gender and 80% the way Kris treated
her, Bissinger reported.
According to TMZ.com, Jenner chose not to spell Caitlyn with a “K” as a sign she’s no longer under Kris’ thumb in terms of her image. All of Kris Jenner’s Kardashian daughters have names starting with a “K.”
Meanwhile, the four children from the decathlon champ’s first two marriages also spoke about their new relationship with Caitlyn and how it contrasts with the distant dad who missed years of their lives growing up.
“I have high hopes that Caitlyn is a better person than Bruce,” Jenner’s oldest son, Burt, 36, said.
“I have made a lot of mistakes raising the four (oldest) Jenner kids,” Caitlyn Jenner told Vanity Fair.
The older kids, including reality star Brody Jenner, 31, reportedly opted out of roles in Jenner’s upcoming E! docu-series about her transformation, citing concerns it’s using the same production company behind “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” the article said.
Jenner said their decision “hurt” her at first, but she eventually accepted it.
When her “20/20” interview with Sawyer first aired, Jenner watched once with the Kardashian clan and again with his four oldest.
“Was it tough to watch? Of course it was,” Jenner said.
“I never thought in a million years I would ever have to divulge such private, intimate feelings I’ve had all my life,” she said. “(But) I was also excited to get it off my chest. Scared, but excited.”