The 65-year-old Olympic gold medalist and reality TV star sparked rumors about his gender identity last year after visibly altering his appearance.
And tonight, he confirmed that he is reinventing himself physically in a bid to transition from male to female in the highly-anticipated, personal sit-down.
Speaking in front of millions of viewers, including Kim Kardashian and her family, Bruce tearfully revealed: 'To all extents and purposes, I am a woman.
'My brain is much more female than it is male. That's what my soul is. Bruce lives a lie. She is not a lie.' He added: 'I can't do it anymore.'
At the start of the program, simply titled 'Bruce Jenner: The Interview', Diane asked the star: 'Are you ready?', to which he replied: 'I am, let's do it.'
Bruce continued: 'You know what... it's going to be tough. I've been thinking about this day forever and what i should do with my life. How do i tell my story, how do i tell people what i've been through... And that day is today.' He then asked Diane for a tissue and used it to wipe his tear-filled eyes.
Clutching the tissue, Bruce said: 'We have to keep our sense of humor about this. Me of all people - Bruce Jenner - has to deal with these issues.'
Finally, he answered the question that has been on everyone's lips for the past year.
'I have always been very confused with my gender identity since I was this big,' said Bruce, lowering his hand to several feet above the ground.
He then revealed how he had explained his identity to his children. 'God's looking down, making little Bruce. He gave me all these wonderful qualities. [But then he thought] wait a second, we've got to give him something in his life to struggle with. Let's give him the soul of a female.'
Despite his female soul, Bruce said he 'hates' describing himself as a woman stuck in a man's body. 'I'm a person and that's who I am,' he said. 'I'm not stuck in anyone's body. It's just me. It's who I am.' He added that tonight's interview will be his last one as Bruce, as a 'he'.
'I just can't pull the curtain any longer,' he said, before admitting that he has 'always' dreamed as a woman.
Many will likely see Bruce's revelations as a giant leap for the transgender community.
However, others have expressed concern that his TV appearance may make transgenderism a spectacle.
Addressing Diane in preview clips of the interview, released by ABC today, Bruce reveals: 'My whole life has been getting me ready for this.'
The emotional star adds: 'I've got my house. I've got my children. I've got my family. I've got seven grandkids now. I'm really excited about the future, about what good I could do in the world.' And in one clip, he says: 'I feel like I’m going to be OK. 2015 is going to be quite a ride... Quite a ride.'
Before tonight's interview, ABC had refused to confirm exactly what the 1976 Olympic decathlon winner would speak about. Instead, the network simply promoted the sit-down as being 'wide-ranging'. Diane also declined to confirm what the interview would cover - but said it would be 'fascinating'.
Today, just hours before the tell-all interview, Kris's daughter, Kim Kardashian, revealed her family would all be watching the sit-down at 9pm EDT.
Speaking to E! reporters in New York at the Variety Power of Women event, the 34-year-old said: 'We always support each other. Our family is super supportive of everything that we do and you know we're gonna watch the special tonight and support Bruce and watch it with him tonight.'
Also today, Bruce's second wife, Linda Thompson, tweeted her support for her ex-husband, who grew up in a middle class home in New York.
'Once a champion of Olympian magnitude...now a champion for those who share the struggle to just be who they are,' the 64-year-old wrote.
She followed it with the hashtags #compassion #acceptance #tolerance #education #evolution #kindness #inclusion #freedom #peace.
Meanwhile, Bruce's daughter, Kylie Jenner, 17, took to Instagram to share a throwback photo of her father - making her love for him known.
She captioned the black-and-white image, in which Bruce shows off his athletic build: 'daddy throwback. #Tonight #DianeSawyer #ABC #love'.
However, others were not so thrilled about Bruce's revealing interview.
Wendy Williams said on her Thursday show that she was not happy with the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star, whom she called a 'fame wh**e'.
She also noted he should be paying more attention to Kylie, 17, who is dating rapper Tyga, 25 - and said he should not have had kids in the first place.
Rumors surrounding Bruce's gender identity first arouse in January 2012, when Ellen Pierson - who married Kris's ex-husband Robert Kardashian - claimed the star had been a cross-dresser 'for years. She said his first wife, Chrystie Crownover, had said he had a penchant for women's clothing.
Two years later, the rumors escalated when Bruce was spotted in public after reportedly undergoing a laryngeal shave to flatted his Adam's Apple. In May 2014, he then refused to cut his long hair for Kim's wedding to rapper Kanye West, despite pressure from the bride and his estranged wife Kris.
And in August that year, Bruce was pictured with what appeared to be breasts, sparking claims he was having hormone therapy to turn into a woman
A month later, Bruce started growing out his hair and shaving his legs. And in November, he was spotted wearing nail polish, a sports bra and Spanx.
After Bruce divorced from Kris in December, Chrystie - his first love and an interior designer - spoke out about the rumors that he was transitioning.
She revealed that she still sees Jenner - father of two of her children, Burt and Casey - at family events, and would support him in his decision.
'I just want him to be happy,' she said. 'He is a very proud and present grandfather. We all support him.'
Earlier this year, TMZ reported that Bruce told his family that he has known he was meant to be a female since the age of five.
Shortly after, ABC revealed it was airing a 'wide-ranging' interview with the reality star, sparking a hype over the sit-down.
Bruce, whose father was a tree surgeon and mother was a housewife. was diagnosed with dyslexia when he was young.
However, he showed a strong talent for athletics - and excelled at sports while a student at Newtown High School in Connecticut.
In the 1976 summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada, Bruce took the gold medal in the decathlon and quickly became a household name
During his marriage with Kris Jenner, Bruce was stepfather to Kourtney, Kim, Khloe and Rob Kardashian.
The pair also had daughters Kendall, now 19, and Kylie, 17, together, before announcing their separation in 2013. They divorced the following year.
According to People magazine, the Kardashian girls 'were the last to know' about the 'true identity' of Bruce, who lives in a $3.5million Malibu mansion.
'They were just hysterical when it all really came out,' a source told the magazine in March.
'The whole family went through a rough patch.. It's naturally a difficult thing to process and work through.'
Bruce’s children, Burt, 36 and Casey, 34, (from his marriage to Chrystie ) and Brandon, 33, and Brody, 31, (Linda) will feature in tonight's interview.
Source: Daily Mail Uk
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