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Jan 24, 2026

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Caitlyn Jenner admitted that she had tested positive for having used estrogen hormones since the 1980s.

Bruce Jenner and Caitlyn Jenner are essentially the same person.

Bruce Jenner was the former name and identity, when she lived publicly as male. Bruce Jenner was a famous track and field athlete who won the Olympic gold medal in 1976.

Caitlyn Jenner is the new name and current identity after she publicly came out as transgender in 2015, living authentically as a woman.

Bruce Jenner said Friday night that he's transitioning from male to female, plainly telling ABC's Diane Sawyer, "Yes, for all intents and purposes, I am a woman."

The much-anticipated interview kicked off with the 1976 Olympic gold medal winner and reality TV celebrity reaching for a tissue even before the questions began. "I've been thinking about this day forever and what I should do with my life and how do I tell my story," Jenner said.

After revealing a lifelong struggle with gender identity, the "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" father discussed how that affected each of his three marriages, shared details about his 1980s attempt to transition and told what it was like to bring his six children and four stepchildren up to speed on the secret he had been keeping.

"I've always been confused about my gender identity since I was this big," the 65-year-old explained, gesturing a few feet above the ground.

 It was, Jenner said, as if God had put a little boy together, adding smarts and athletic ability and more, and then said, "Let's give him the soul of a woman and see how he deals with that."

Jenner wants to continue to be referred to as "he" and "him" for the time being, Sawyer told viewers.

 During the chat, Jenner referred to the person he's becoming as "her" and "she," not mentioning a specific name. "If I did," he said, "the media would go crazy."

Media pressure has been significant: The night after a surgery to reduce the size of his Adam's apple made headlines thanks to a paparazzo's picture, Jenner said, he briefly thought about how easy it would be to end his life and "go to a better place."

 Then he realized he couldn't do that, because he had to see how his real story ended.

Jenner said his gender identity issues hadn't played a role in the breakup of his marriage to Chrystie Jenner, nee Crownover, in 1981, but were behind the split from his second wife, actress Linda Thompson, in 1986.

He went as far as taking hormones for five years in the 1980s and had plastic surgery on his face before giving up on transitioning, in large part because he was concerned about hurting his family.

Kris Kardashian, who would become Kris Jenner, learned early on about his gender confusion, he said.

"She goes, 'OK, so you like to wear women's clothes some?' I downplayed it," he said. She "didn't say much" after that, he said, and they never went to therapy about it. Speaking highly of Kris, who as his manager had revived his career with infomercials and then the "Kardashians" juggernaut, he said he had a wonderful couple of decades with her.

"Not only was I able to call him my husband for 25 years and father of my children, I am now able to call him my hero," Kris Jenner said on Twitter after the show aired.

Brandon Jenner was the first child Bruce shared his story with, months ago, and the four oldest Jenner children appeared on the program.

"The way he [told me] wasn't perfect," Brandon Jenner told Sawyer. However, he said, "I feel like I'm getting an upgraded version of my dad." Daughter Cassandra Marino said she asked her father what he wanted to be called. "He said, 'I'm Dad. Call me Dad. I'll always be your dad.' "

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