Jonathan Van Ness has opened up about being diagnosed with HIV (Picture: WireImage)

Jonathan Van Ness has opened up about living with HIV.

The Queer Eye star is hoping to break the stigma around the condition, and smash common misconceptions.

And the 32-year-old, who revealed his status in new book Over The Top, explained he was ‘scared’ of being so vulnerable about his life with people.

In an extract from his memoir, shared with New York Times, he explained he was 25-years-old when he was diagnosed, and the moment was ‘devastating’.


The publication states the Netflix star fainted while working at a hair salon, and went to Planned Parenthood the very next day.



It was here Jonathan learned he was HIV positive.

Jonathan was diagnosed with the condition when he was 25 (Picture: Getty)

‘That day was just as devastating as you would think it would be,’ he wrote.

Following the news, JVN vowed to start a new life for himself in LA, and soon caught the eye of Hollywood thanks to his hilarious Game Of Thrones recaps, Gay Of Thrones, back in 2013.

He later auditioned for the Queer Eye reboot, and has never looked back.

And, after becoming a firm favourite with the rest of the Fab Five – Antoni, Karamo Brown, Tan France and Bobby Berk – Jonathan is hoping to erase misperceptions about being HIV positive.

Describing himself as a ‘member of the beautiful HIV positive community’, he told the publication: ‘When Queer Eye came out, it was really difficult because I was like, “Do I want to talk about my status?

Jonathan became a household name thanks to his stint in Netflix’s Queer Eye (Picture: WireImage)

‘And then I was like, “The Trump administration has done everything they can do to have the stigmatisation of the LGBT community thrive around me”.

‘I do feel the need to talk about this.’

Jonathan also explained it was a tough decision to be so open about his condition, as he has never shared his news publicly before.

‘It’s hard for me to be as open as I want to be when there are certain things I haven’t shared publicly,’ he continued. ‘These are issues that need to be talked about.

‘These are all difficult subjects to talk about on a makeover show about hair and makeup.

‘That doesn’t mean Queer Eye is less valid, but I want people to realise you’re never too broken to be fixed.’

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