As a Bond girl and a pin-up known to millions as Tula, Caroline Cossey oozed glamour and had a glittering life in front of her.

She was working on a TV gameshow and was in international demand as a model.

That all changed when an undercover sting callously revealed to the world that she was born a boy.

It was the early 1980s and she became the world’s most famous transgender woman – choosing to tell her remarkable story in the Sunday Mirror.

But life in Britain was to become too much after she was mocked by cruel sections of the press, attacked by a male fan and pounced on by a “lynch mob” bombarding her with personal questions.

Fleeing the UK, she became a virtual recluse and swapped A-list parties – and Playboy photoshoots – for anonymity.

But now she is back in the limelight, buoyed by the rise of transgender women in the public eye. And in her first British interview for almost three decades, the ex-model from Norfolk again turns to the Sunday Mirror to tell her story.

She says: “In the 1980s, being transgender was like a death sentence – it still can be in certain countries.

(Image: Sunday Mirror)

“So when you had your surgery, you just put your head down and got on with your life. When I was outed, it was like I had been fooling everybody but that’s not how it was. I was treated like a criminal, like a hunted animal. I was destroyed overnight.

“At one personal appearance I was in the bathroom when a big guy pushed his way in. He closed the door and said ‘Don’t worry, I’m not going to do anything, I’m a fan’.

"Then to my absolute horror he assaulted me. I couldn’t speak, I was in shock. It was devastating and it upsets me to talk about it to this day.

“Experiences like that should never have happened. No one had the right to out me as being transgender but things were different back then.

“There was nothing I could do and my life was in tatters so I ran away. I hid from the limelight because it was the only way to feel safe.

"But things have changed and I look at other trans women in the public eye, doing well for themselves and commanding respect. I am finally ready to come back and hold my head up high.”

Caroline, 62, transitioned from male to female when she was 20.

(Image: Sunday Mirror)

She says the assault was the ­catalyst for fleeing Britain. And she says her biggest heartache was not being able to have children with her second husband David Finch, 51.

It has been a difficult journey. When Caroline was working as a model, being transgender was not widely accepted.

“Outed” in 1981 – around the time she appeared in For Your Eyes Only with Roger Moore – she even contemplated suicide.

Caroline gave up a highly-paid job on TV gameshow 3-2-1 rather than face the hysteria whipped up in the UK. She says: “I couldn’t make myself a target by appearing on TV all the time.

The show was so successful it ran for 10 years. It’s amazing to think what my life would have been like if I’d stayed. All the jobs offered after my past was revealed became based on my gender.

(Image: Instagram)

It just felt wrong to be portrayed like a freak when I knew I was a normal girl. I literally walked away from millions of pounds to keep my dignity intact.

“I couldn’t even go shopping without being surrounded by people asking inappropriate questions. I felt vulnerable and exposed.

“I travelled the world doing interviews trying to show people that trans women were just normal women, not circus acts.

"I remember a particularly harrowing radio ­interview with US shock jock Howard Stern, when he dressed as a woman and made a joke about cutting off his penis. I felt sick to my stomach.

(Image: Sunday Mirror)

"I’d gone from Vogue to this. I had hatemail saying I was an abomination too. That’s when I began to shut down, to turn down all work. I needed my sanity back. We moved to Atlanta and for six months I didn’t leave the house.

“No one knows but I had a complete breakdown. I needed to find the real Caroline again – not Tula.”

Caroline credits “soulmate” David with saving her and tells how they met by chance as he travelled in Europe.

She says: “David had got off at the wrong bus stop in Brent Cross, London. He walked into the restaurant I was in. I was meeting my lawyer but had gone into the wrong restaurant. It was destiny – when our eyes met it was love at first sight.”

(Image: Playboy)

The senior software architect proposed in 1992 and they wed in his home city of Montreal. Caroline – born Barry Cossey – slowly began to get better. She gave up modelling and opened an antiques shop, working at night.

She says: “I cut my hair and changed my image. It was the new start I had been waiting for. Within two years my inner strength had come back and it was easy to stay below the radar.”

Caroline had been desperate for a family with David and two surrogate mums – her sister and a close friend – agreed to help. But their circumstances changed and Caroline’s chance of motherhood slipped by.

She says: “It was incredibly painful but just wasn’t meant to be. We made our peace with it.”

When Caroline was outed her story helped countless transgender women and she admits being a role model is a reason why she has started working again today.

“I got letters from hundreds of girls saying I’ve saved their life,” she smiles.

“I don’t have any regrets about the fact it became public, I just regret the fact it wasn’t my choice.”

One woman inspired by Caroline was guest Loose Women panellist India Willoughby, 51. ­

Caroline describes the TV presenter as “amazing” and the pair are firm Facebook friends.

(Image: ITV)

She has also had a long chat with the world’s most famous transgender woman, TV star Caitlyn Jenner, 67 – who as retired athlete Bruce Jenner was married to Kim Kardashian’s mum.

So what of the future? Smiling broadly, she adds: “I’ve got a bucket list. There are some nice offers on the table and I’ve sold the movie rights to my life.

"It will be interesting to see who plays me...”