Former New Zealand Idol star undergoes gender confirmation surgery
The runner up on the 2005 series of New Zealand Idol has undergone gender confirmation surgery surgery.
Nikki Lee, formerly known as Nik Carlson, has been out of the spotlight for almost a decade, but will now return to screens in a documentary series, telling her story of reassignment.
Nikki will feature in one episode of new series Beauty and the Beach, which will document her travels to Phuket, Thailand where she underwent four operations to complete her transition.
The 37-year-old told New Zealand Woman’s Weekly: “I’m honouring my truth. I’m realising my dream of becoming a woman.”
She adds: “On the inside, I had a feminine soul and there was a sadness in me that I wasn’t born female.”
Nikki adds that she has known that she would transition since primary school.
“It started at primary school. Most of my friends were girls, and I wanted to look like them, to be one of them. On the other hand, I was comfortable being a boy. I never hated my masculinity – I never felt that I was trapped in a man’s body.”
“It’s just that I always knew there was another part of me. I always knew that I would eventually evolve into a woman.”
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