Taiwanese model Alicia Liu (Xun Ai) has admitted that she is a transsexual.

The 24-year-old model-cum-actress, nicknamed Xiao Ai, said she underwent sex-change surgery at the age of 18.

"My ex-boyfriend paid for it," she said in an interview with a Taiwan magazine on Friday.

Liu, whose original name was Zi Hua, became popular following her appearances on a parody television programme.

A photo of Liu before she underwent a sex change operatiion

She was described as having a face as innocent as an angel with sexy curves and a sweet voice.

She is 171cm in height and weighed 50kg with a vital statistics of 34C-25-34.

Liu’s "real" identity was exposed when a schoolmate a year her junior revealed her "secret" on the Internet recently.

The schoolmate had also attached a photo taken from the school’s graduation album, in which Liu was placed in the male category.

After that, Liu called for a press conference to state that she was happy with her current name and identity.

"As far as I can remember, I love being a woman. The past is not important," she said while showing reporters her identity card, which stated that she is a female.

She neither denied nor admitted the rumour at that press conference.

However, on Friday, a week after the press conference, she admitted that she was a transsexual, reported China Times.

Liu said she had always been treating herself as a woman. She wore a skirt to school and used the female toilets.

She had five boyfriends and it was her second lover who paid for her operation.

The model also said she had a normal sex life like any other women. Some of her ex-boyfriends did not know of her true gender.

Her fifth lover, also a model, had shouted vulgar words upon finding out that she is a transsexual.

She thanked her family for their support.