Caitlyn Jenner is opening up about her divorce from Kris Jenner, seven years after they parted ways. In a new episode of Rob Lowe’s podcast, Literally! With Rob Lowe, Caitlyn, 70, reflected on her life as a father and husband to Kris, and what ultimately led to her coming out as transgender in 2015 and going through a transition.
Caitlyn shared with Rob that she had always struggled with her gender identity, and while her transition came just two years after her split from Kris, the two moments were not really related.
“I was never comfortable with my identity, even as a very young kid,” Caitlyn shared. “I was fascinated by my sister’s clothes, never comfortable in my own shoes, fascinated with all that kind of stuff. But, you keep your mouth shut, you know? I’m talking the ’50s and ’60s. [Transgender] wasn’t even a word back then. So I found ways to just distract myself from those feelings. Sports — what a great way to do that. Prove your manhood. But those feelings … it was always there.”
Caitlyn of course, became an Olympian and won a gold medal in Decathlon at the 1976 Olympic Games. Caitlyn also went on to have sons Brandon Jenner, 39, and Brody Jenner, 36, with ex-wife Linda Thompson; daughter Cassandra Marino, 40, and son Burt Jenner, 41, with ex-wife Chrystie Crownover; and daughters Kendall Jenner, 24, and Kylie Jenner, 23, with Kris.
“My distraction was going to work, and then eventually it became family, it became all these things,” Caitlyn continued. “And of course my kids yelled at me: ‘Is that all we were? A distraction?’ I go, ‘No, no, no!’ I loved being a dad,” Caitlyn added.
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“I had 10 kids — raised six genetic, four step. Raised these amazing, amazing kids,” she said. “It’s what I’ve been able to accomplish and I’m very proud of that. I’m proud of all my kids. All 10 of them. They’ve all done amazing.”
Caitlyn shared that she was at a low point prior to meeting Kris, and at that point in time didn’t feel she could transition.
“I just couldn’t go any further,” she recalled. “And I thought to myself, ‘You’ve got to get on with life. … If I can’t [transition] — because I can’t do it, okay? — I’ve got to move on in life.'”
She shared that she and Kris hit it off immediately, and got married five and a half months later. She also shared that they made a dedicated effort to blend their families, four children each from previous marriages.
“But we kind of blended this family the best that we possibly could. Kris kind of came in and took over. She was honestly a Beverly Hills housewife at the time, but she was always around very strong businesspeople and had great skills. She just started getting the ball rolling again, because I had not for the last six years. The rest is kind of history. That was the next 23 years. Kris and I had two kids — Kendall and Kylie. They’ve done okay for themselves.”
But he said Kris was aware of her gender identity questions.
“I mean, I told Kris my issues, but I never thought that at some point down the line, 25 years later, that I would ever transition,” she said. “It wasn’t a possibility. I was in this, I was going to be committed to the family, but these are my issues, this is what I deal with. She was okay. And so we just went on with life and again, the distraction thing. Which my kids hate when I say that, but it’s not them — a distraction from myself. And they were wonderful.”
“Then we started doing the show, everybody’s working, they were great years,” she continued. “I didn’t think it was at all possible at those times in my life. … That went on for years and years and years.”
“After 23 years, Kris and I went our separate directions. My identity, it was not a big part of us separating,” Caitlyn shared. “There were so many other bigger issues out there. The only thing, I think, because of my frustration with myself, I might have been a little bit shorter with her near the end. But there was a lot of things going on.”
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“And then all of a sudden, we didn’t have any issues, it was calm,” Caitlyn shared. “‘You know it’s not working, I know it’s not working, you have this house, I’ll go find another place.’ And she even found the place. She decorated the place. She did everything in Malibu. She said, ‘I want you to feel comfortable.’ And that was it.”
The former couple are still in touch, but there was a moment of estrangement in 2017, following the release of Caitlyn’s tell-all book. Kris shared around that time that the book was “full of inaccuracies” and didn’t accurately portray how little she knew about Caitlyn’s desire to become a woman. She said she didn’t know as much as Caitlyn said she did and that she was also unaware of many moments that happened with Caitlyn and the kids.
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