Munroe Bergdorf: ‘The most expensive thing I’ve bought? Gender-affirming surgery’

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Born in Essex, Munroe Bergdorf, 37, studied at the University of Brighton and worked in fashion PR. In 2022, she became the first trans model on the cover of UK Cosmopolitan and in 2023 she published her book Transitional. She hosts the podcast The Way We Are and presents MTV UK’s Queerpiphany. She is a UN Women UK Changemaker and a founding consultant of the UK Diversity and Inclusion Board of L’Oréal Paris. Her latest book is Talk to Me; her documentary, Love & Rage, launched in the UK last month and is available to stream from 14 July. She lives in London.

Describe yourself in three words
Passionate, loving, driven.

What would your superpower be?
Invisibility, so I can spy on people and get the gossip.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
I say “scream” when I should just laugh, and it really annoys my friends.

Which book are you ashamed not to have read?
The Great Gatsby.

What makes you unhappy?
Being misunderstood by people I admire.

Aside from a property, what’s the most expensive thing you’ve bought?
Gender-affirming surgery. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not widely available on the NHS and a lot of it you have to pay for yourself.

What is the worst thing anyone’s said to you?
Apart from stuff on social media, an ex-partner telling me I’m unlovable.

What is your guiltiest pleasure?
The Real Housewives franchise.

What do you owe your parents?
As you get older you start to realise your parents are just people and they’re often just doing their best, so I owe them understanding and grace.

What is the closest you’ve come to death?
Before transitioning, I had a severe eating disorder. The doctor said, “Your body’s shutting down and if you don’t improve your mental and physical wellbeing, you’ll die.” Shortly after that, I started transitioning medically and my eating disorder resolved.

To whom would you most like to say sorry, and why?
Everybody I’ve lost to suicide. When someone dies in that tragic way, you always feel you could have done more.

Which living person do you most despise, and why?
Every single world leader currently making the world less safe for us all.

Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Victoria Rose, a British surgeon operating on children in Gaza.

What did you dream about last night?
I have a lot of dreams that involve running and yelling. I’ve just had Botox in my jaw because I’m grinding my teeth in my sleep.

What is the worst job you’ve done?
At university, I worked at a hotel in housekeeping. We saw so many weird things in people’s rooms. Guests would leave sex and party stuff behind!

If not yourself, who would you most like to be?
Grace Jones or Madonna.

When did you last change your mind about something significant?
Cancel culture: getting stuck on the discourse rather than looking at the system.

How often do you have sex?
As often as I get to see my boyfriend.

Would you rather have more sex, money or fame?
Money, because fame’s so transient and empty, and I’ve got enough sex.

Tell us a joke
I was so surprised when the stationery store moved.

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