Her Instagram page is splattered with selfies in her lingerie, poolside pictures in bikinis, catwalk snaps in bridal gowns and images of her curled up on her bed with her dog.

Yet 36-year-old Nicole Gibson is not your typical Millennial model: raised as a boy, the 'Unexpected Star of London Fashion Week' had a sex change operation just days after making her modelling debut in the autumn of 2013.

Now the five feet 11-inch model is living life as a woman – she is legally recognised as female on her passport and driving licence.

She has been signed by the new agency Classic Models, joined dating website Tinder and flirts with the boys at the local rugby club, where she works as a barmaid.

Her transformation to a woman has been so successful, and so convincing, that Nicole claims even her sexual partners cannot tell she was born a man.

Speaking for the first time since her operation, she told MailOnline: 'I don't really refer to myself as transgender now.

'I wasn't feeling overly proud of it and couldn't really relate to people like Kellie Maloney and Caitlyn Jenner, who are a lot older than me and have been men in men's worlds.

Princess: Nicole Gibson, pictured, who models lingerie and bridalwear, was born a boy named Glen but in 2013 had a sex change operation and is now legally recognised as a woman

Stunning: Nicole, pictured, won 'Unexpected Star of London Fashion Week' when she took to the catwalk three years ago. She was signed by new agency Classic Models, joined dating website Tinder and flirts with the boys at the local rugby club, where she works as a barmaid

New life as a woman: Her transformation into becoming a woman has been so successful - and so convincing - that she says even her sexual partners do not notice that she was born a man

Born in the wrong body: Even from a young age, Nicole said growing up she felt like a little boy with the brain and soul of a little girl who fantasised about dressing up in women's clothes

'Even though I was physically a little boy, I've always felt female – my brain was that of a little girl, my soul was that of a little girl. Now I'm living life as a woman. My passport describes my sex as Female not Trans.

'A friend of mine, who is a rugby player, said to me: 'You've got to stop calling yourself that. That's not how we think of you. It's not your life anymore. You're a girl. Never say otherwise.' That was the final nudge I needed to close the door to the past.'

Nicole, who lives in a quaint cottage in the rambling countryside in Warnham, West Sussex, was not always so comfortable in her skin.

Born as a boy named Glen, she always felt an affinity with little girls, fantasising about dressing up in women's clothes and pretending she was Elizabeth Taylor in the 1976 film Blue Bird.

Bullied at her secondary school, Tanbridge House, where she was given the nickname 'Glenda the Bender', she eventually came out as gay when she was a student at Collyer's sixth-form college, where she studied English Literature, theatre studies and performing arts, alongside TV presenter Holly Willoughby.

Model looks: Now a natural in front of the camera modelling wedding dresses or strutting down the catwalk, Nicole was not always so comfortable in her own skin. She told MailOnline: 'Even though I was physically a little boy, I've always felt female'

Bridalwear model: Nicole, pictured during a wedding dress shoot, was bullied at secondary school where she was given the nickname 'Glenda the Bender'. She eventually came out as gay at sixth-form college, where she studied performing arts, alongside TV host Holly Willoughby

Comfortable in her skin: After leaving college, Nicole began growing her hair and dressing as a woman. She then saw her GP for a sex-change operation

However, after college, she began growing her hair and dressing as a woman, and approached her GP for a sex-change operation.

After being accepted for NHS funding for the procedure, which costs between £12,000 and £14,000, she was registered at the Gender Identity Clinic, attached to Hammersmith's Charing Cross Hospital.

She began counselling in October 2010 and started taking hormones to enhance her curves the following June.

In 2012 she changed her name by deed poll. Then, in the summer of 2013, she came off the HRT to prepare for the operation.

It was at that stage that she began attracting attention as a model: she created a YouTube vlog, joined the talent agency Star Now and was scouted by Models of Diversity.

Transformation: Nicole, who has thousands of social media followers, officially changed her name in 2012 and stopped taking hormone replacement therapy the following summer

Model in Waiting: Shortly after she came off hormone treatment, Nicole began attracting attention as a model. She creating a YouTube vlog, joined the talent agency Star Now and was scouted by Models of Diversity, who trained her how to strut down catwalks

Under the knife: Days after her breakthrough appearance on the London Fashion Week runway, Nicole underwent a two-and-a-half hour operation to become a man at Charing Cross Hospital, where she remained for a week afterwards to recover

New star: Of her incredible modelling breakthrough, Nicole said: 'It was all a bit of a whirlwind. I didn't expect any of it. I'd been running pubs my entire adult life but was scouted by Models of Diversity, who trained me and slung me down the catwalk at London Fashion Week.'

After stepping out in vintage Yves Saint Laurent at Catwalk 4 Change, a fashion show held to promote diversity, which kick-started London Fashion Week in autumn 2013, she became an overnight star.

'It was all a bit of a whirlwind,' she says. 'I didn't expect any of it at all. I had been running pubs my entire adult life but was scouted by Models of Diversity, who trained me to catwalk and then slung me down the catwalk at London Fashion Week.

'My first outing was in a sheer vintage YSL number. That took some confidence, especially became I had come off the hormones and lost my boobs and my bum.

'It was a period in my life when I was really self-conscious about my appearance.'

Within days, Nicole went under the knife at Charing Cross Hospital. The operation, on September 19, 2013, took two and a half hours, but she was in hospital for a week.

'I woke up singing Avicii's So Wake Me Up When It's All Over,' she laughs. 'It was so weird. I must have heard it when I went under.

'They were saying: 'Miss Nicole. Miss Nicole. You need to be quiet. There are other people recovering.'

'I was on morphine for two days afterwards so don't remember much about it. I kept on pressing the button for more morphine.

Fresh faced: Nicole was born a boy called Glen, but growing up in West Sussex on the south coast, she knew she had been born into the wrong body and eventually came out as gay

Cruel: To make matters worse Nicole, pictured as a young boy, was bullied at her secondary school Tanbridge House, where she was taunted and given the nickname 'Glenda the Bender'

'Then I went home to my Mum's to recuperate. I was up and about after a few weeks but my energy levels were low and my nights out were cut short.'

Nicole was fortunate that she did not need plastic surgery on her breasts although she had to take five 2mg blue HRT tablets daily.

'I was lucky,' she adds. 'I grew my boobs naturally. I have a home-grown healthy C cup. But I will be on hormones forever.'

Although she is unable to have children naturally – she did not freeze any sperm before the operation – her sex life is normal.

'I'm not promiscuous but there have been occasions where I haven't felt the need to tell the person and they didn't notice,' she admits.

However, her career has not been so straight forward. Her first foray into television was on the Channel 4 reality TV show Coach Trip, in which couples travelled around Europe, doing tasks and voting each other off. She went with a friend but it was, she says, a disaster.

'It was ghastly,' she recalls, laughing. 'We left after three days. We didn't get on with anybody there.

Womanly curves: As part of her transformation, Nicole did not require plastic surgery on her breasts, having to take five 2mg blue HRT tablets instead. She told MailOnline: 'I grew my boobs naturally. I have a home-grown healthy C cup. But I will be on hormones forever'

Loving life: Although Nicole is unable to have children naturally - and did not freeze sperm before the operation - of her sex life she says: 'I'm not promiscuous but there have been occasions where I haven't felt the need to tell the person and they didn't notice.'

'They definitely had a problem with my situation. I know it would have made good telly for me to have had it out with them, and gone out with a bang, but I just thought, 'I don't care about any of these people. I just want off this coach'. We didn't make it out of France.'

Despite that, her career slowly gained momentum: she played an Eastern European transsexual prostitute in Channel 4 comedy Catastrophe, has been in a short LGBT film Dawn, and walked down the catwalk with other Models for Diversity at the Ideal Home Show.

'I've done a lot more catwalks than shoots,' she says. 'Obviously, my height helps and people are fascinated by my story but I think my strut won them over.

'I was modelling lingerie for the designer Sonata Rapalyte - and was thrilled.

'I was wearing a very revealing body with mesh down the front – nobody would wear it apart from me – but I thought: 'I have dreamed of doing this forever. I'm not going to let her down.'

Since then Nicole has been signed to Classic Models, which has promoted her as a bridal wear model.

Made it: Nicole, who signed to Classic Models to promote her as a bridal wear model, says the highlight of her career has been walking down the catwalk for Estilo Moda at Woburn Abbey

TV career: Nicole's into showbiz started uncertainly, with her debut appearance on the Channel 4 reality TV show Coach Trip not working out. But her career has gained momentum, seeing her play an Eastern European transsexual prostitute in Channel 4 comedy Catastrophe

'I wouldn't say I was striking and I don't have chiselled cheekbones, which you can cut glass with,' she giggles, 'but I think I can pull off quite a homely appearance.'

The highlight, so far, was walking down the catwalk for Estilo Moda at Woburn Abbey. 'That was an amazing experience,' she adds. 'I was just away with the fairies.

'I got to the end of the catwalk and spun around like a princess. I've always dreamt of my wedding day. Now I just need to find my prince.'