Entertainment

Bruce Jenner’s Ex: He Wanted To Be A Woman And Have Their Kids Call Him ‘Aunt Heather’

Kaitlan Collins Contributor
Font Size:

Linda Thompson was married to Bruce Jenner in the 1980s, and she said that during their marriage he told her he wanted to be a woman and that their two sons could call him “Aunt Heather.”

They were married for five years, and in an excerpt from her memoir Thompson talks about what it was like to find out about Jenner’s desire to be a woman — saying it was “shocking.”

“I was living in my little Malibu cocoon of marital, motherly bliss with my world-champion, muscular, athletic, handsome husband,” Thompson said.

“So my reaction to Bruce’s shocking declaration was one of confusion, even desperation. I suggested that we go to therapy.” (RELATED: Bruce Jenner: ‘I Am A Woman’)

(Photo: Getty Images)

Thompson and Brody, her second son with Jenner. (Photo: Getty Images)

Thompson said at one point Jenner considered going to Denmark and getting a sex change. His plan was to return, “identifying as a woman,” and he would re-enter his son’s lives as “Aunt Heather.”

“It was extremely difficult for me to comprehend, and adjust my life accordingly to, the realization that the man I had married — the very masculine, gorgeous, ideal, wonderful hunk of a man — would be no more. The human entity was still alive, but it truly was like mourning the death of the person.”

“If Bruce had told me about his gender issue when we first began getting romantically involved, I would not have married him. Pure and simple.”

They went through six months of therapy before eventually divorcing. (RELATED: Bruce Jenner: ‘I’m A Republican And A Christian’)