Bruce Jenner reportedly began changing into a woman before he even started dating Kris Jenner over 20 years ago but she forced him to behave like a man.
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The 65-year-old former Olympian and Kris, the Keeping Up with the Kardashians matriarch, met on a blind date in 1990. And at that point, Bruce had already been taking steps to live as a female, Us Weekly reported in its February 9 issue.
"He had gone to doctors, started plastic surgery and begun the transition," a family source told Us.
But Kris, 59, attempted to pump the brakes when she had become his girlfriend.
"She talked Bruce out of acting on his feelings," said the family source.
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Kris and Bruce then wed after being together for seven months. It was only a matter of time before Kris reportedly caught Bruce trying on her clothes.
"It was always very closeted. He would have other people buy him [women's] clothes," a source from Bruce's inner circle told People in its February 16 issue.
"But she thought she could change him," a friend noted to Us. "She thought it was a phase he was going through for attention."
Because Kris dismissed Bruce's innermost desires and feelings, fights ensued and the communication broke down in their marriage.
"They had massive arguments about it. She said he was 'delusional' and 'crazy,'" explained the family source. "He feels a lot of anger and animosity toward Kris for suppressing his feminine side."
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The couple later split in 2013, which was when Bruce allegedly began to truly embrace his need for personal expression.
"At first it seemed Bruce was rebelling against Kris," a Keeping Up with the Kardashians production source told People. "He started to grow out his hair, and Kris didn't approve of that."
Next came estrogen pills, a laryngeal shave to minimize the appearance of his Adam's apple, manicured and painted nails, highlighted long hair, and lip gloss.
Once rumors swirled, reports surfaced and tabloids ridiculed Bruce's ever-changing feminine appearance, he decided to come clean with Kris and his family.
"Being that he's such an icon, it took a while for him to decide to do this," a Bruce friend told Us. "But he wants to put it all out there. He feels like he doesn't have anything to lose... Bruce has had these urges for many years."
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Kris was reportedly "shocked" by Bruce's news and certainly not understanding.
"It's really a hard adjustment for her," the source from Bruce's inner circle told People.
"Kris had the most difficult time in the family," added an insider. "She's looking back at their entire marriage, and a lot of things are suddenly making sense. She has had a lot to process."
Although she's processing Bruce's story and facing arguable evidence, Kris is allegedly refusing to accept the truth about Bruce's sex change.
"Her denial is just a knee-jerk reaction because she's not comfortable," said the Us family source. "She treats the whole thing like it will just go away. She tells the public it isn't true rather than try to understand him. She has made no attempt to seriously understand him."
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But the insider insisted, "No one felt deceived by Bruce" because he was "going through this change slowly."
Some family members reportedly felt "embarrassed" about Bruce's new look at first, but once the tabloids became nasty and everyone was focusing their attention on the topic, his children and stepkids simply wanted to stand by him.
"[Brody Jenner] talks to Bruce every day and tells him that he loves him," the Bruce friend told Us. "They all have become protective of him and just want him to live the way he wants... Everyone is relieved he is starting to come out with it. They were so worried that their dad had no one to talk to about this."
Bruce will share the story of his transformation in his own way on Keeping Up with the Kardashians' upcoming tenth season and his new docu-reality series set to air on E! later this year.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski