Glee Star Changes Name, Reveals ‘Soul Is Male’

11/30/2021 06:38 pm EST

A former Glee star has officially come out as transgender and debuted a brand new name after declaring her "soul is male."

Charice Pempengco, a Filipino singer who gained huge popularity on YouTube in 2007, and then went on to appear in the second season of Glee, is now going by a new moniker. Jake Zyrus.

In his first tweet, as previously reported by People, Jake said, "My first tweet as Jake. Overwhelmed. Saw all your love comments and I'm so happy. Finally. I love you, everyone and see you soon."

Over on Instagram, Jake wrote, "From the bottom of my heart, thank you for the love and respect. I love you back and I'm sending peace to everyone."

When Zyrus was Charice Pempengco, Oprah Winfrey once called him "the most talented girl in the world."

His 2010 album Charice debuted at #8 on the Billboard 200 albums chart which was historically unprecedented as it made the young star the first Asian solo singer to land in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 albums chart.

It was appearances on Oprah and Ellen that helped further launch Zyrus to success. As audiences loudly cheered, Zyrus belted out covers of "I Will Always Love You," "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," "I Have Nothing," and "My Heart Will Go On."

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Then, at just 16 years old, Zyrus took the stage at Madison Square Garden and performed a duet of "Because You Loved Me" with Céline Dion, his idol.

In the second season of Glee, Zyrus stole the show as Sunshine Corazon, an extremely talented foreign exchange student who joins the Glee Club and quickly becomes rivals with Lea Michele's character Rachel Berry

Zyrus came out as gay in 2013, and appeared on Oprah's Where Are They Now show.

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Confronting rumors that he would have gender reassignment surgery, Zyrus told Oprah, "I'm not going to go through that stage where I change everything. I'll cut my hair and wear boy clothes and everything, but that's all."

He also opened up about when he knew how he identified, saying, " "I knew when I was 5. Then, when I was 10, I was like, 'Oh, that's it, I'm gay.'"

At this time, Jake has not announced any official new music but it's anticipated he will in the near future.

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