Linda Thompson, Bruce Jenner’s ex-wife, has written an op-ed about her marriage to Jenner and her reaction to his* announcement.

Linda Thompson was married to Bruce Jenner for five years in the 80s and she has revealed in an op-ed for the Huffington Post about how he told her that he was transgender almost 30 years ago.

“I have respectfully kept his secrets private and would have taken his confidences to my grave had he not spoken out.”

When Jenner revealed that he is transgender, he told Thompson that “for as long as he could remember, he had looked in the mirror and seen a masculine image staring back at him where there should have been a feminine reflection.”

In response to this, Thompson hoped therapy would help.

“I found a therapist who specialised in gender dysphoria. […] She told me in one of the first few sessions, ‘Linda, this is who Bruce is. If Bruce goes through with his gender reassignment, as he is now planning to do, you have the option of staying with him after he becomes she, or you can divorce him and move on with your life.'”

Thompson says that Bruce went back to Dr O’Dea to begin female hormones, before receiving electrolysis to remove his facial and body hair.

As their children were so young, Thompson said she tried to explain away Bruce’s physical transformation.”I was trying to shield Brandon and Brody from the truth and protect Bruce at the same time. It was exhausting.”

She then reveals that, for years after his wedding to Kris Jenner, Bruce was not a part of their sons’ lives, which Thompson assumes is because of his confusion about his gender.

“After Brandon and Brody were grown and I did reveal their father’s issue, I think the knowledge helped them put the pieces together and explain some of Bruce’s dysfunctional parenting.”

Finally, she admits that now that Bruce has revealed his true gender, she is happy that she knows she could protect him.

“After having harbored his secret, and feeling in my heart and mind that I have protected him through these years, I can now breathe a little easier, knowing he now has found the strength and the courage to fulfill his dream.”

Note: Jenner has stated that he is currently using male pronouns