Long-running soap opera "Bold and the Beautiful" introduced its first transgender character on Wednesday.

The character Maya Avant, played by actress Karla Mosley, was revealed to be born a male.

Avant has been dating one of the show's favourite characters, Rick Forrester, and kept her transgender status a secret. Her younger sister, Nicole, recently arrived in town, and threatened to reveal that Maya's birth name was Myron. Mosley confirmed that the storyline is groundbreaking for daytime TV.

"She's a transgendered woman," Mosley told ET. "This is just the next frontier. It's the next community that deserves to be recognised and respected in our media."

The actress said she discussed how to approach her character with her transgender friends, and hoped her portrayal would have a positive impact on viewers.

"This is the kind of opportunity that I've prayed for, to make change in the world through my art in a big way," she said.  

Mosley said the timing is right for such a revelation, acknowledging that "20 years ago this would be a different story." The team at CBS is looking forward to the character's possibilities.

"We're excited and we're standing behind it and we feel it's important," said Mosley. "No matter how we look or don't look, ultimately we're all human beings with a range of stories. Let's start caring about each other heart to heart."

The upcoming CBS series "Doubt," starring transgender actress Laverne Cox, will be the first time a transgender actor portrays a transgender series regular on broadcast television. Cox, who stars on the hit series "Orange is the New Black," is also the first transgender person to be nominated for an Emmy.

Cox's character is Cameron Wirth, an Ivy League-educated lawyer at a boutique firm, whose experiences with injustice make her fight harder to win for her clients.