Kellie Maloney is planning to set up her own transgender dating site.
Kellie Maloney
The 63-year-old boxing promoter - who was known as Frank Maloney before her transition in 2014 - has started trying to date men but isn't sure whether she wants a "full-on relationship" just yet after experiencing some romance disasters.
She said: "I'm talking with someone about it [bringing out a transgender dating site] because that way you get serious people.
"There are some websites where transpeople go - but I won't say it because there are a lot of people on there that might not want people to know - and they're called admirers and quite weirdly they have these obsessions.
"One I got talking to said, 'I'd like to go out with you but I won't continue going out with you if you have the operation and get it chopped off,' and I'm thinking, 'I'm a woman, I've got to have this operation as it's my journey,' so I'd like to have one [a dating site] where men understand and are quite open minded.
"Men have got to be confident [to deal with it]. He's got to be able to tell people. That [intimacy] worries me. I'm not sure if I want a full-on relationship or just a companion. I'm quite content."
The 'Celebrity Big Brother' star recalled one conversation with a potential suitor which ended in disaster after Kellie told the guy exactly who she was, and she admitted that incident "knocked [her] back a bit".
Speaking on 'Loose Women', she said: "It's really hard. I always think, 'They must have recognised me. I don't want to embarrass anyone or myself ... I tell them I'm a transwoman and it goes dead, they stop [contacting me].
"There was a guy I was talking to for a while, he was quite keen and I forgot to tell him I was transgender for a while because we got on so well, because I can talk a bit about sport - which men find interesting.
"So we got talking and I said, 'I've got to tell you, I carry quite a bit of baggage' and he said, 'Oh, I'm very open minded, we all carry a bit of baggage, I've been divorced...' and I said, 'I have too but I've got a bit more than that' and he said, 'Will you phone us?', so I got brave and phoned him.
"He said he'd like to meet for a coffee and I said, 'OK but I must tell you about the baggage'. He said, 'No, don't worry about it,' but I said, 'I think it's best I tell you.' I said, 'Have you heard of Kellie Maloney?' and he went, 'That f***ing boxing promoter that cut of his f***ing...' and I said, 'Yeah, that baggage I'm carrying happens to be Kellie Maloney,' and he went, 'How can I ever go out with you? What will people think?' and the phone just went dead. That knocked me back a little bit. I left it for a while."
Tagged in Coleen Nolan Katie Price Andrea McLean