Few stories of transgender women or men surface in Singapore, and it’s even rarer to read about one who is a model.

Andrea, 28, is signed to the Phantom modeling agency in Singapore and normally works with brands that are inclusive. She is also a makeup artist and runs a business selling hair weaves.

But life wasn’t all fantastic for Andrea prior to her reassignment surgery. Growing up, she had always felt there was something off about her, but held out and led a life as a Singaporean man — even serving in the army — until she decided at 23 to take her first hormone pill.

“I really went through life as a male, you know, and decided that it’s not for me. I just held it out … I thought I was a gay man. It turns out I wasn’t homosexual, I was transsexual,” she told Coconuts CEO Byron Perry in the debut episode of Being, a new Coconuts TV interview series.

“After three months, when I popped the first pill, that was the most at home I’ve ever felt in my body in the 23 years I’ve lived.”

Hear more about Andrea’s transition, what it’s like being trans in Singapore’s dating scene, and more in the full interview.

Correction: An earlier version of this video referred to Andrea as the first transgender woman model in Singapore, which she is not. We apologize for the error.

More news from the Little Red Dot at Coconuts.co/Singapore.

This article, Being Andrea: Singapore’s most famous transgender model on finding herself (Video), originally appeared on Coconuts, Asia's leading alternative media company. Want more Coconuts? Sign up for our newsletters!