Former Big Brother star Rordigo Lopes has revealed that he is considering gender reassignment, as he lives his life as a woman named Rebekah.
The Brazilian was a housemate in the 2009 run of Channel 4's reality series, during which he became romantically involved with Charlie Drummond. "I've always felt like I had a woman inside of me, always," he told Heat magazine. "But I used to hide it. I've always liked make-up, treatments and other womanly things, and I was 18 when I first started experimenting. But early this year I told my best friend Andrea how I was really feeling.
"She encouraged me. When I came back to the UK I started wearing my friends' clothes first, then I began shopping for them. People in the shops were surprisingly normal about it. Now I go out with a transvestite I made friends with. She's very glam. We go to straight clubs and get a lot of attention."
Admitting that he is still "worried" about his parents' reaction to his new life, Lopes said that he is "about to see a doctor" and is looking into hormone treatment.
"The doctor tells you that you should live as a woman for a year before you make any big decision about surgery, so that's what I'm doing." Describing his alter-ego Rebekah Shelton as a "straight" woman, he said: "She's a very modern woman. She likes to pay her own way and not have doors opened for her. She's flirty, but would never go home with someone on the first date.
"She's very short-tempered, too! She's much madder than I could ever be - once, she tried to take her high heel and throw it in a man's face."
Asked if he has any doubts about becoming a woman, Lopes said: "I'm becoming more sure every day. What makes me like it more is the attention Rebekah is getting - people really like her. I don't know if it will be difficult. But it wouldn't make that much difference. I'm not that masculine."
The full interview appears in the new issue of Heat magazine, out today.
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