Caitlyn Jenner became the most googled celebrity of 2019. The 70-year old Jenner was recently seen during her stint on the I'm A Celebrity, a survival-reality show shot in the Australian jungles.
A former American Olympic gold medalist, Caitlyn is more famous for being a mother to her two daughters Kendall and Kylie Jenner.
However, Caitlyn was not always a mother to the Jenner sisters. Till some time ago, she was their father. Born as William Bruce Jenner, the 70-year-old came out as a transgender woman in 2015.
Jenner participated in competitive men sports
Jenner, who struggled with her real identity from an early age, started her journey in the field of sports. Despite being diagnosed with dyslexia at a young age, Jenner got admission in Graceland University and a football scholarship. Following a knee injury, Jenner had to leave football and switch over to decathlon.
It was during the 1976 Olympic Games held in Montreal that Jenner not only bagged a gold medal but also created a world record by scoring 8,618 points in the Men's Decathlon. For this feat, Jenner was given the James E Sullivan Award, the highest top amateur athlete award in the US. Jenner was also awarded with the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year in 1976.
However, the Olympic gold medal held little value for Jenner as she mentions about her struggle with revealing her true self. "I remember getting up the next morning, didn't have a stitch of clothes on, walking to the bathroom, medal sitting there on the table, put the medal around my neck, looking in the mirror and I go, 'What have you just done? Am I stuck with this person the rest of my life?' It was scary," she said during an interview.
A new woman with a colorful past as a man
Married three times in the past as a man, Jenner first said 'I do' to Chrystie Scott in 1972. The couple who shared two kids, Burton Jenner and Cassandra "Casey" Marino got divorced in January.
Within days of his first divorce, Jenner tied the knot with actress Linda Thompson during a private ceremony in Hawaii. This time too Jenner divorced Thompson four years later in February 1986. They have two kids Brandon Jenner and Sam Brody Jenner.
In April 1991, Jenner married his third wife, Kris Kardashian, after dating her for five months. The duo has two daughters Kendall and Kylie Jenner. At the time of their marriage, Kris, a divorcee, had four kids of her own: Kourtney, Kim, Khloé and Robert.
Even though the couple separated in 2013, their divorce was formalized in 2015. While the real reason behind their divorce was never made public, it is said that Jenner's transformation into a woman was the main cause. Previously, Jenner had admitted that dating Kris was a mere act put on to end the rumors related to his cross dressing. On her present role as a parent, Jenner said: "Bruce raised them, and Caitlyn is enjoying their life with them."
Not Olympics, but coming out as a transgender woman, biggest achievement
During an interview given to BBC Radio 4 podcast, Jenner, who is still addressed as 'dad' by her daughters, said she counted coming out as a transgender woman a bigger achievement than her Olympic gold medal. "I trained 12 years for the Games. I trained 65 years to transition in 2015. It was harder to do, it was less accepted," she said.
It was in 2018 that Jenner underwent her final transitional surgery towards becoming a woman. Jenner, who authored a book about her life, 'The Secrets Of My Life', wrote about the surgery. 'I am going to have an enthusiasm for life that I have not had in 39 years since the Olympics, almost two thirds of my life. '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,' she said. In the book, Jenner went on to reveal, how she used to privately dress as a woman and take hormones.
Will Jenner be the new face of the LGBTQ community in the US ?
Jenner had publicly lashed out at US President Donald Trump after he pulled back the policy of allowing transgender students to use the toilets and lockers of the genders they identified with.
In an Instagram post, Jenner said: "I have a message for the trans kids of America, you're winning. And I know it doesn't feel like it today or everyday, but you are winning. Very soon, we'll win full freedom nationwide, and it's going to happen with bipartisan support."
Addressing the US president, she said: "Finally I have a message for President Trump from one Republican to another, this is a disaster and you can still fix it. You made a promise to protect the LGBTQ community. Call me."
Is Caitlyn Jenner dating Sophia Hutchins?
Jenner, who underwent a complete sex reassignment surgery, wrote in her book that gender and sexuality are two different issues. Maintaining that people's obsession with her sex life was annoying, Jenner said: "If a man becomes a woman and still enjoys sex with women, what does that make her? Who the hell cares?"
Recently the rumor mills were rife with a possibility of Jenner dating Sophia Hutchins, her partner with whom she shares her house in Malibu. During her stint in I'm a Celebrity, Jenner received letters and care packages from Hutchins.
In a letter written to her housemate, Sophia, who claims to be dating a 30-year-old Harvard graduate, wrote: "You are doing such an amazing job in the jungle. Show these Brits that American Olympian endurance. The dogs and I miss you so much, we decorated the house but Baxter tore the lights off the trees already so it's waiting for you to fix it."
