Jenner, 65, wears her hair in loose curls and poses in a white bustier corset in her first portrait since transitioning from male to female.
“If I was lying on my deathbed and I had kept this secret and never ever did anything about it, I would be lying there saying, ‘You just blew your entire life,’ ” she tells Vanity Fair.
“I was probably at the [Olympic] games because I was running away from a lot of things. [I’m] very, very proud of the accomplishment,” she says. “I don’t want to diminish that accomplishment. The last few days of doing this shoot was about my life and who I am as a person.
“It’s not about the fanfare, it’s not about people cheering in the stadium, it’s not about going down the street and everybody giving you a ‘That a boy, Bruce’ pat on the back, okay? This is about your life. Bruce always had to tell a lie. He was always living that lie. Every day he always had a secret, from morning til night. Caitlyn doesn’t have any secrets. As soon as the Vanity Fair cover comes out, I’m free.”