Watch: Ellen meets trans model Aydian Dowling

Since making jaws drop everywhere after recreating Maroon 5 front man Adam Levine’s infamous naked Cosmo shoot, Aydian Dowling has become on of the world’s most recognisable transgender faces, and earlier this week he appeared on Ellen to share his story.

The model is currently in the running to become Men’s Health’s first ever transgender cover star, and chatted to the chat show host about his campaign to win the US magazine’s search for the “ultimate guy”.

Discussing how he came to terms with his sexuality and gender identity, he says: “I came out as a lesbian as early as 13, but I didn’t come out officially to friends and family until I was about 17.

“It just felt like something didn’t fit. Like, it felt like I was a lesbian only because I was a girl who liked girls, so that was the title that was put on me, rather than the title I felt I identified with.”

Dowling goes on to explain that it was on when an ex-girlfriend asked ‘Have you ever thought of being a boy?’ that he found the “missing puzzle piece”.

“Once I found out what emotionally it means to be transgender, I – that was it.”

He added: “I came out to my mother first [as transgender], and I had a lot of guilt with that. She had two sons already, and I felt like I was robbing her of her only daughter.

“Luckily in some sense she is open-minded., and she’s been a nurse for 30-some years, so she had dealt with transgender people before, so she knew kind of the base of it, so that was really safe and nice.”

You can still vote for Dowling in Men’s Health magazine’s search for a new cover star here – let’s make it happen!

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