When "Evel Dick" Donato left "Big Brother 13"
during filming, he cited only "personal reasons" for his
decision. He's now revealing the reason for his exit: He
is HIV positive.
The winner of "Big Brother 8" shared his revelation on an
episode of the VH1 reality series "Couples Therapy" set
to air Wednesday. Donato and his girlfriend, Stephanie
Rogness-Fischer, are cast members on the show, and in
a clip he is seen discussing wanting to come clean
about his diagnosis -- which she is adamantly against
doing.
"Stephanie does not want to talk about it, and if it's
brought up with her she will probably leave," he tells
the show's therapist, Jenn Berman. "There (were) a
million rumors of why I left ... but nobody ever knew and
nobody ever found out."
The news of Donato's status was first known via Twitter.
Donato exited "Big Brother 13" after six days. He told
People magazine that the show's producers first alerted
him to his diagnosis.
"They told me that something was wrong with my blood
test," he said. "They had done two HIV tests. One had
come back positive and the other had come back
negative."
He said he immediately left the show and went to the
house of his mother, the first person he told. Donato
said he is not gay or an intravenous drug user, "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."
Donato is on medication that he will have to take for the
rest of his life and said he is coming forward to help
others come out of the shadows. He says he's fully
aware of his reputation as a reality-show villain but
grateful for the platform.
"And I decided that it was time to just publicly say what
I'm dealing with," he said. "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."
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