A 'hunky' male bodybuilder stunned colleagues when he took a break from work after a nervous breakdown - and came back as a woman.

Bricklayer Shannon Moore, 44, from Portsmouth, shocked work mates when he didn't show up for his contractor role at a building site - but fun-loving Jessie-Rennee did instead.

Jessie-Renee, who has two daughters, had been off work for six months and living as a woman for two years after being diagnosed with gender dysphoria in her twenties.

Laddish bricklayer Shannon Moore, 44, from Portsmouth, shocked work mates when he didn't show up for his contractor role at a building site - but fun-loving Jessie-Rennee did instead

Jessie-Renee had been living as a woman for two years, but going into work as a man, after being diagnosed with gender dysphoria in her twenties

But a suicide attempt, family feud and bankruptcy has meant the journey has been far from easy for the transgender woman.

Jessie-Rennee said: 'My daughters don't talk to me anymore.

'One of them said when I had my breakdown a few years ago that I said some nasty things to her in the heat of the moment, but I never meant it. I wasn't me then.'

Jessie-Renee, who comes from a family of boxers, said she knew she was meant to be a girl when, as a boy, she'd put on her mum's clothes when alone in the house.

'I'd get all dressed up in my mum's heels and I remember everything just making sense,' she said.

'I felt really comfortable but all I ever did was just stare through the nets in mum's bedroom – just praying nobody would see me though the curtains.'

'I'd get all dressed up in my mum's heels and I remember everything just making sense,' said Jessie-Renee, who did extreme sports and bodybuilding when she was a man to attempt to reconnect with her masculinity

As a teenage boy, Shannon took up extreme sports in an attempt to reconnect with his masculinity.

'I did BMX, motocross and skateboarding – to the extreme,' Jessie-Renee explained.

'Apparently that's not uncommon for people in my position because you have no regard for life.'

She added that knowing she was meant to be born a woman was 'constantly on my mind 24/7'.

Shannon also spent hours at the gym, perfecting his physique through bodybuilding and, as a result, had many female admirers.

She said: 'I was a bit of a ladies' man, I had a fair few girlfriends and was known for having a girl on my arm when walking through town.

Shannon was a bit of a ladies man, said Jessie-Renee, but he would dump girls because he didn't want to sleep with them. 'I hated my penis - I mean really hated it', she said

'But when it came down to sex, I ended up dumping a lot of girls because I'd never want to sleep with them.

'I hated my penis – I mean really hated it.'

Jessie-Renee started living as a woman on weekends and evenings but continued to go into work as Shannon.

I'd get all dressed up in my mum's heels and I remember everything just making sense

But it was coming out as transgender to her family that proved to be the real difficulty.

'My brother Jason would walk into the room at home and say, "There's someone down the pub like you" and "so do you like girls or boys then?".

'Telling him and my dad was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. They just hated me for it.'

Eventually the taunts drove Jessie-Renee to try to end her life.

She said: 'Everything got too much – [it was] like electricity was slowly filling me up and I couldn't focus on anything.

'I wrote a bunch of suicide notes and I got to my daughters' ones and I just couldn't [write them] - I felt terrible.'

Jessie-Rennee declared bankruptcy after spending £300 a session on therapy and splurging on lipstick and clothes to make herself feel good

She added: 'I can be a bit of a drama queen at times.'

Determined to sort her life out, she sought help from a top gender psychologist who charged her £300 an hour.

HRT has cost me thousands and now I'm renting a room in someone's house because I can't afford to get my own place

Two years later, and her life savings drained on pricey hormone replacement therapy, Jessie-Renee declared bankruptcy.

She said: 'I was given the choice to go through the NHS but was told it could take around 18 months to even get my referral letter.

'It cost me thousands and now I'm renting a room in someone's house because I can't afford to get my own place.'

In a bid to lift her spirits, she began splurging on expensive make-up and dresses, causing the debt to mount up.

Jessie-Rennee said: 'I got signed off work and was strapped for cash but just kept spending.

Jessie-Rennee was overwhelmed by the amount of support she received on social media when she came out as transgender. Talking about her workmates she said: 'The lads were really understanding, but I don't really hang around with them anymore, I much prefer sitting with the girls at lunch'

'I loved the way I felt when I put lipstick on in the morning so I bought a whole bunch of lipsticks and loads of new clothes.'

Weeks later, she came into work after using the power of social media to come out to the world as transgender.

She said: 'My finger was hovering over the send button, and eventually I just pressed it, put my phone down and tried to forget about it.

'A few hours later I decided to look and I was just so overwhelmed by all the likes and shares I got.

'The lads were really understanding, but I don't really hang around with them anymore. I much prefer sitting with the girls at lunch.

'They say "Jessie, come and sit with us" and I love that – they make me feel like I belong."