The 65-year-old's highly anticipated interview with Diane Sawyer for ABC aired last night, during which Bruce made the confession that he's struggled with his identity his whole life.
He told Diane: "Yes, for all intents and purposes, I am a woman. I have the soul of a female and my brain is much more female than it is male, as of now I have all the male parts."
Olympic gold medalist Bruce confessed he first felt the urge to wear women's clothing when he was eight or nine-years-old.
Discussing trying on his mother's and sister's clothes, he said: "I marked the closet so I wouldn't get caught. And, at the time, I didn't know why I was doing it besides it just made me feel good."
He admitted that Kim Kardashian, 34, was the first of his stepchildren to discover his cross dressing and, although she found it difficult to talk about at first, her husband Kanye West, 37, talked her round.
Bruce said: "[Kim and Kanye] were talking about it. He said to Kim, 'I can be married to the most beautiful woman in the world, I am, I could have the most beautiful daughter in the world and I do, but I'm nothing if I can't be me, if I can't be true to myself'. From Kanye, yes, since then Kimberley has been by far the most accepting."
When asked by Diane if he is a lesbian Bruce insisted that he is 'asexual', adding: "I'm me, I'm a person. I'm not stuck in anybody's body. Bruce Jenner has always been confused with my gender identity."
And Bruce confirmed that he will have gender reassignment surgery 'down the line'. He joked: "If you're living your life female, as Khloe would say, 'You've gotta have the vajayjay!'
"There's no rush. I would do it so quietly that nobody in the world would ever know."
Bruce has been labelled a 'hero' by his family, including ex-wife Kris Jenner, 59. She took to Twitter following the interview to say: "Not only was I able to call him my husband for 25 years and the father of my children, I am now able to call him my hero."
The reactions of the Kardashian/Jenners and other celebrities: