Australia's first transgender TV host, Andrew Guy, made his debut on The Project on Monday night.
Guy won a contest on WS-FM's Jonesy & Amanda breakfast program to be a guest presenter on the Channel Ten panel show.
Andrew, born Anna, has been post-operative transgender for five years.  
Andrew's story of his #transgender journey on @theprojecttv tonight was fascinating, informative and educational. Great job!
??? Stephen B Sander (@stephenbsander)     September 7, 2015
He told hosts Waleed Aly, Carrie Bickmore and Peter Helliar he knew he wanted to be a boy ever since he was little. 
"I remember asking my mum, 'If you want to become a boy, is there anything you can do about it?'" Guy said. 
"And she said, 'Yes, you can have an operation.' I was literally so relieved. I was like, 'Great, can we go and do that next week?' And she said no. But I still thought about it a lot. I still used to go to bed at night, praying that I could wake up the next day as a boy."
Love love love @theprojecttv's commitment to diversity. They feature the first transgender guest host on Australian TV tonight.
??? Carly Findlay (@carlyfindlay)     September 7, 2015
When Bickmore asked how he survived his teenage years, Guy responded: "I'd have to say, badly and suppressed. I don't recommend it to a lot of people."
Guy has documented his experiences on video over the past year, showing clips and childhood photographs to viewers. 
He explained that as a young woman with blonde hair, he "was just doing my darndest to be attractive; to be the best woman I could". 
This only made him unhappier. For the last five years, however, he has been the "real me and I'm loving it ... life is good". 
Having been near-invisible until recently, transgender people and characters have become more prominent in the past two years, including former olympian Caitlyn Jenner, Orange is the New Black actor Laverne Cox and Transparent protagonist Maura, played by Jeffrey Tambor. 
"Has Caitlyn Jenner helped?" Aly asked. "Is that actually teaching us anything?"
Guy said: "It has ... [she's] a transgender woman. A lot of older, biologically-born males that are trans women ??? they tend to do it later on in life. But these kids these days, who are born this way, really can't help but just be that now as children. We've got a lot of young kids coming through and I think it's important that we recognise and honour them." 
He added that he is a mentor to a nine-year-old boy named Ben, who lives in Auckland. 
"He's a great kid, he's just a boy, born female," he said. 
Guy emphasised that "people who change their gender are just an every person [who] eats and sleeps and gets hurt, and is here to live as best they can alongside everybody else". 
The project had a trans man on tonight and he spoke about the struggles when being a teenager. I love this show. pic.twitter.com/veJ3qlI8pJ
??? man i just love erin (@MaryCuffe)     September 7, 2015
Great work on @theprojecttv tonight @AndygProjects#theproject
??? Sally Gardner (@sal_star1)     September 7, 2015
"I think the parents that are out there today, supporting their transgender kids, that's just spot on and you have to.
"Otherwise, there are going to be some issues later on in life that you have to deal with ??? that I had to go through ??? and they're going to avoid that and be really strong, healthy kids. And I admire the parents doing that."
The segment drew praise on social media, with viewers commending both Guy and The Project's "commitment to diversity". 
Guy said the program was the first to include a transgender host. 
"You've just broken a new paradigm," he told his co-presenters.
@Michael_Lallo
mlallo@fairfaxmedia.com.au