Never miss any of the fun stuff. Get the biggest stories and wackiest takes from the Daily Star, including our special WTF Wednesday email
Thank you for subscribing!
Never miss any of the fun stuff. Get the biggest stories and wackiest takes from the Daily Star, including our special WTF Wednesday email
We have more newsletters
A transgender former WWE star has opened up about chasing her dream feminine body as she shows off her incredible transformation.
Gabbi Tuft, who lives in Austin, Texas, weighed in at a whopping 280lbs (20 stone) and had just six per cent body fat when she made her WWE debut under the ring name Tyler Reks in 2009.
But after transitioning two years ago, she now looks completely unrecognisable from the huge dreadlocked wrestler.
READ MORE: Female couple celebrate pregnancy by stripping off for 'beautiful' underwear ad
For more incredible real-life stories, click here.
The 44-year-old described herself as looking "like a cross between Ragnar Lothbrok from 'Vikings' and The Mountain from 'Game of Thrones' during the peak of her WWE career, which saw her make appearances at Smackdown, Raw and Wrestlemania.
But the masculine look wasn't how she felt inside and when she finally decided to transition in her early 40s, it became a huge hurdle.
In an essay written for Insider, she explained: "The 280-pound wrestler and bodybuilder that other people saw was not who I saw when I looked in the mirror.
"When I began my transition, I wrestled (no pun intended) with how I desired to present myself to the world."
As a pro wrestler, Gabbi had built up an incredible amount of muscle on her 6ft 2 frame and revealed it took a lot of "trial and error" to get the body she dreamed of having after being "flooded with testosterone" for four decades.
While hormone therapy helped to dissipate some of the muscle mass, Gabbi said she had to make herself a "guinea pig" to work out how to get her feminine figure.
The fitness fanatic didn't want to have to give up her intense workout regimes so used her expertise in fitness and nutrition to try out different diets and workouts to help her develop a "feminine aesthetic".
After two years, she finally discovered a routine that worked for her and has since lost 190lbs of weight and muscle mass.
Gabbi, who now works as a fitness and nutrition coach, also underwent facial feminisation surgery and a breast augmentation as part of her transition.
The process wasn't easy though, as she described going through an "ugly-duckling phase" before being happy with her new look.
But Gabbi revealed it was the idea of being able to help other trans people that kept her going. She said: "I knew that if I shared what I had learned over several years of trial and error and research, and remained 100% authentic and honest, I could help others.
"That, in and of itself, made the more trying times worthwhile."
She's now racked up more than 800,000 followers on TikTok by sharing her transition journey. Gabbi's videos include speaking with her wife of 20 years, Priscilla, and their 11-year-old daughter Mia about their reactions to her transition.
In a recent video interviewing her daughter, Mia confessed it was a "little weird" when she has to explain to people that her dad is a woman but said she doesn't lose friends because of it.
She also admitted she "sometimes" got sad that Gabbi wasn't a man anymore at the start of her transition but said she now wouldn't change anything about their relationship.
In another TikTok post, Priscilla said she handled Gabbi's transition with "love, acceptance and compassion" from the beginning.
She confessed she has "moments of missing her big strong man" but added: "It's been really awesome for my freedom and independence."
Gabbi thanked her family for their support when announcing she was transgender on Instagram in 2021. She wrote: "My loving wife, family, and closest friends have accepted me for who I am. To them, I am forever grateful.
"Your support along the way means more than you will ever know."
Follow the Daily Star US on Facebook
All the news, entertainment, sport and fun stuff you love about the Daily Star, brought to you by our American team.
Give the Daily Star US Facebook page a follow to make sure you're not missing out.
- Body Positivity
- WWE
- Sexuality
- Workout
Source: Read Full Article