Today, Big Brother 8 winner and Big Brother 13 contestant, Evel Dick Donato, revealed that he is HIV positive after being diagnosed three years ago.
During the summer of 2011, Donato returned to play Big Brother for the second time. Six days into production, he was called to the diary room and informed of his HIV positive status and he abruptly left the show — it should be noted that he was not given a choice as to whether or not he wanted to stay. Viewers were not clued in to the real reason for his exit, until now.
Donato is currently appearing on VH1′s Couples Therapy, along with his longtime girlfriend, Stephanie Rogness-Fischer. Evel Dick has been hinting that he would reveal the reason he left Big Brother 13 and People magazine has published an exclusive interview with Donato ahead of tonight’s new episode of Couples Therapy, where you can see Donato reveal his secret.
Check out a few excerpts from the interview below:
On leaving Big Brother:
“When they told me, I just went numb,” he says. With little explanation, Donato left the show. “They had a car take me from CBS to my mother’s house. She was the first person I told.”
On the stigma of having HIV:
“People are going to make assumptions about how I got it, and that’s okay,” he says. “People are afraid to come forward because they’re afraid of the stigma of HIV. I’m not gay and I’ve never stuck a needle in my arm, but at this point, it doesn’t matter. We create a stigma around the disease that makes it hard for people to publicly say they have it.”
On going public:
“Look, I get that I’m a reality-show villain,” he says. “But for better or for worse, I have a platform. And I decided that it was time to just publicly say what I’m dealing with. On one hand, I’m doing this for myself: I don’t want to hide anymore. On the other hand, I hope it will remind viewers to get tested, practice safe sex, all those things we know in the back of our minds but maybe don’t do.”
On getting treatment for HIV:
“I spent a lot of time trying to figure out my next steps – the right doctors and medications. I really began to understand how frustrating it could be.”
On his current health status:
“My viral load is virtually undetectable, I’m happy to say. I live a very normal life and don’t have a lot of health issues. It also means that it’s highly unlikely I could pass the disease along, although I don’t have unsafe sex anymore. I fully expect to die of something else when I get old, not HIV or AIDS.”
After the news broke, Evel Dick tweeted out this statement on his official Twitter account:
I knew I was not alone having HIV, yet nobody talks about it. I hope what I am doing gives more people the confidence to say Fuck the stigma
— EvelDick (@EvelDick) October 1, 2014
You can check out a preview clip from tonight’s episode of Couples Therapy below:
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I’m so proud of Evel Dick for speaking out about his HIV positive status. He has a platform and he is choosing to use it to spread light on this disease and he should be commended for that. I wish him all the best!
You can read Donato’s full interview with People magazine here. VH1′s Couples Therapy airs tonight at 9pm ET.
If you want/need more information on HIV/AIDS please go to AIDS.gov.
