Caitlyn Jenner on her gender change: 'Bruce was a good guy...but I couldn’t play that game any longer'

Bidding adieu to Bruce Jenner wasn’t an easy moment for Caitlyn Jenner. The 66-year-old opened up to Out in a candid interview back in September regarding her name and gender change.

Upon learning the change was confirmed, Caitlyn admits she got emotional. “I actually cried a little bit about it,” she said. “Here we are—honestly never knowing if this day would ever come. In some ways, it’s a little sad. Bruce was a good guy, did a lot of good things, raised a tremendous family and wonderful kids. But I just couldn’t play that game any longer.”

Since Cailtyn’s big debut on the cover of Vanity Fair earlier this year, she has gone on to make great strides in the LGBT community and star in her own E! series, I Am Cait. Despite being out and under constant scrutiny, the reality star says she has now found a purpose in her life.

“I always thought that I want to wake up in the morning excited about the day, excited that I have things to do, things to accomplish, things to learn,” she revealed. “I want to be excited about life always. For the longest time, I was not. I isolated myself from the world. I never felt like I fit in anywhere. Today that’s all changed. I’m so terribly excited about the future. I have so many things to do. I feel like I have a place in life.”

Photo: Getty Images

Caitlyn was recognized Monday night at Glamour Magazine's 25th annual Women of the Year Awards in New York City. Donning a royal blue off-the-shoulder Moschino gown, she took to the stage to deliver a speech revealing the words by which she lives by. "There was a French activist and writer, Simone de Beauvoir, who said, 'You are not born woman. You become one' ... Words I live by," she said.

The activist also noted that her road to becoming Caitlyn was not a quick one. “My transition was very, very long,” she said. “I had many, many, many years of isolation from the world, of lying to the world, of not being myself.”

"Of all the things I've done in my life, Caity is why God put me on this earth: to tell my story; to be honest with myself about who I am. And in doing that, making a difference in the world. And I'm very happy to be living on the other side," she said.

Caitlyn was in great company Monday evening joined by fellow honorees Reese Witherspoon, Misty Copeland and Victoria Beckham. The 66-year-old also received support from daughter Kylie Jenner, who attended the event. Caitlyn's youngest daughter wrote on social media, "Had some major wardrobe malfunctions but that couldn't stop me from supporting the ones I love. You're amazing @caitlynjenner congrats on being woman of the year for @glamourmag."