Big Brother’s Rodrigo Lopez to Undergo Sex Change

Rodrigo Lopez, the 26 year-old Big Brother UK contestant has decided to undergo a sex change surgery after living as a woman named Rebekah.

The Brazilian student came in fifth place on season 10 in 2009 and has since started to go out on the town in heels as a woman. At the time of the show’s airing he made headlines for his on again/off again relationship with co-star Charlie Drummond, and the pair also became the “first gay couple” on the series.

In an interview with Heat magazine, Rodigo tells the magazine, “I’ve always felt like I had a woman inside of me, always. But I used to hide it. I’ve always liked make-up, treatments and other womanly things, and I was 18 when I first started experimenting. But early this year I told my best friend Andrea how I was really feeling. She encouraged me. When I came back to the UK I started wearing my friends’ clothes first, then I began shopping for them. People in the shops were surprisingly normal about it. Now I go out with a transvestite I made friends with. She’s very glam. We go to straight clubs and get a lot of attention.”

As far as how fast this procedure is going to go for Lopez, he has an appointment with a doctor next week, and is looking into trying hormone treatment, but has reservations about what his family might say to him. ‘I’ve called up the helpline and spoken to a doctor about it. But I’m still worried about my parents in Brazil and whether or not they would accept me. It’s hard for me. It’s not an easy decision or a joke. The doctor tells you that you should live as a woman for a year before you make any big decision about surgery, so that’s what I’m doing.”

Best of luck to Rodrigo on his transition!