Charice Pempengco, who made a splash on Glee as petite powerhouse Sunshine Corazon, recently opened up to Oprah Winfrey about her gender identity.

Charice Pempengco On Her Male Soul

Pempengco spoke to Winfrey for her Where Are They Now series one year after coming out. When Winfrey asked when she knew she was gay, Pempengco said, “I knew when I was 5,” adding, “I was in grade school and I saw this girl and I felt different.”

“I didn't know what it was but I just knew that time, like it felt special,” she continued. “And when I was 10 I was like, ‘Oh, that's it. I'm gay.’ I found the word.”

Winfrey, later on in the segment, asks Pempengco if she’s ever considered herself transgender and if she plans on fully transitioning. While Pempengco has no plans to transition, per se, she does feel as though she has a male soul.

“Not exactly transitioning to a male, but basically my soul is like male," Pempengco explained. "But I'm not going to go through that stage where I'm going to change everything – not change my body. I would change, like, this look: Cut my hair and wear boy clothes and everything, but that's all.”

Last year, Pempengco came out as lesbian while appearing on the talk show The Buzz. “Yes, I am a tomboy,” she confirmed, using Filipino slang for lesbian. "I don't know what's the problem with that. Because for me, there isn't a problem with that.”

She added, “Now, I'd like to ask for forgiveness to those who aren't able to understand. I just wanna say thank you personally to all my fans, to all the people who are still supporting me, who are still there for me, and honestly I am very, very happy.”

Pempengco first achieved fame as a YouTupe sensation, catching the attention of the media, including Winfrey, who had her on her talk show in 2010. That same year, Pempengco released her first studio album, the self-titled Charice. The singer’s fame increased after her stint on Glee competing against Lea Michele’s Rachel Berry for a solo.