Chrystie Scott, Bruce Jenner’s first ex-wife, was present when the Keeping Up With the Kardashians patriarch was interviewed by Diane Sawyer on 20/20 Friday night. Scott joined several other family members who surrounded Bruce as the interview aired. She hoped her presence would lend some support.
Bruce Jenner and Chrystie Scott were married from 1972 to 1981, and have two children–Burt and Cassandra Jenner–together.
Chrystie Scott spoke with Good Morning America’s George Stephanopoulos on Monday about the interview that aired on Friday night.
“I can’t remember the exact words because it was such a shock to me, but he opened up his heart and confessed, and he had to share this deep, dark secret,” she explained of Bruce Jenner during the early years of their marriage. “He told me he wanted to be a woman, and understandably, I didn’t know what to say.”
What does Bruce Jenner's first wife Chrystie Scott think of his 20/20 interview? http://t.co/g8M4wLhTze pic.twitter.com/1PUP41xXnz
— People magazine (@people) April 27, 2015
“It’s so hard to wrap your head around it, particularly because he was such a manly man,” she continued. “He never indicated anything feminine in his demeanor.”
“It broke my heart. I reached over and tried to give him a little comfort,” Chrystie Scott told GMA. “It broke my heart for him. It was sad.”
Despite the tears Bruce Jenner shed, Scott believes the interview was a positive event in his life.
“I think it was cathartic for him,” she says.
#BruceJenner’s first wife, Chrystie Scott, opens up http://t.co/41Dffjmnmq pic.twitter.com/MutX7C7Onz
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“I’m sure there are plenty of people that don’t have the courage to come out at all, ever, and they live private, dark, tortured lives, and that’s tragic,” Chrystie Scott concluded. “That’s just tragic and the fact that he did share it with me that first year, I feel like that was actually a gift he gave to me to trust me with something so intimate.”
Bruce Jenner is fortunate to have the support of two of his ex-wives. In a conversation on The Today Show Monday, Kathie Lee Gifford said Kris Jenner supports him, too. She explained that Jenner is still processing what these other ex-wives have known for years. She and husband Frank Gifford are good friends with both Bruce and Kris Jenner.
Do you expect Kris Jenner will one day come around the way Chrystie Scott and Linda Thompson have, and show her support for Bruce Jenner as well?