As the 2019 series of I'm a Celebrity draws to a close, one of the most popular campmates to have emerged from this year is clearly Caitlyn Jenner. The first time the star entered the jungle was in 2003, when she competed as Olympic gold medallist Bruce Jenner in the US version of the show. The former Keeping Up With The Kardashians star has since transitioned into Caitlyn, undertaking a lengthy process of change in order to become the woman she is today. But as she reveals in her book The Secrets of My Life, Caitlyn's journey to becoming a woman was far from easy. Here's everything we know about the star's surgical journey.
© Photo: Getty ImagesCaitlyn, now 70, fully transitioned in 2015
Caitlyn Jenner's first attempt to transition
Caitlyn, now 70, fully transitioned in 2015. But she was 39 when she first tried to become a woman. Writing in her book about growing breasts for the first time, the TV star said: "I started on hormones. I was a good 36B. I loved them. I thought this was fabulous. My mission at that point was to transition before I was 40. Got to 39... I just couldn't go any further."
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It was at this point that Caitlyn met Kris, her ex-wife of 23 years who she shares daughters Kendall and Kylie with. Scared of the world's reaction, Caitlyn stopped transitioning in the late 1980s. "I was terrified of being discovered," she said. "I was not at a point in my life where I was comfortable with myself. I don't want to be this way was the bottom line. Who would want to be dealing with all these issues?"
© Photo: RexThe TV star joined I'm a Celebrity this year
Caitlyn Jenner's facial-feminisation surgery
Caitlyn committed to completing the change much later in life. In order to achieve her feminine features during her second transition, the athlete and author underwent facial-feminisation surgery. The surgery can involve procedures such as hairline correction, forehead contouring, and jaw and chin contouring.
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In an interview with Vanity Fair, Caitlyn's interviewer Buzz Bissinger explains the moment Caitlyn underwent the surgery. She writes: "Bruce Jenner went to the office in Beverly Hills, thinking the facial-feminisation surgery would take about five hours. Caitlyn Jenner left the office in Beverly Hills after the procedure had taken roughly ten hours."
© Photo: Getty ImagesShe was 39 when she first tried to become a woman
Caitlyn Jenner's breast implants
Recalling the time in her life when she first tried to grow breasts, Caitlyn writes: "Removing the beard I could get away with. The nose job I could get away with. The development of breasts from the hormones? Not so easy." Fortunately, Caitlyn felt she could be more open about her most recent surgery for breast implants, revealing them to her son Brandon. Brandon said he was a little taken aback when Caitlyn pulled her top up to reveal her new breasts, reminding her: "Whoa, I'm still your son."
Caitlyn Jenner's final transition
Having undergone a nose job, breast augmentation, tracheal shave, jaw reshaping and beard removal as part of her transition, Caitlyn finally completed the process with gender reassignment surgery. Speaking of the procedure in her book, she happily declares: "The surgery was a success, and I feel not only wonderful but liberated. So why even consider it? Because it's just a penis. It has no special gifts or use for me other than what I have said before, the ability to take a whiz in the woods. I just want to have all the right parts."
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