'Who's the Boss?' star Danny Pintauro speaks about HIV-positive diagnosis
"Who's the Boss?" star Danny Pintauro recently spilled his HIV-positive diagnosis in an emotionally charged interview with Oprah Winfrey.
The former child star from the 90s sitcom "Who's The Boss?" revealed that he has been battling Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) for 12 years now. He spilled the details in an interview on "Oprah: Where Are They Now," according to Entertainment Weekly (EW).
"I wanted to tell you this a long time ago, but I wasn't ready. I'm ready now," EW quotes the former actor's statement to Oprah. "I'm HIV-positive, and I have been for 12 years. It's just a big deal. It's not something people are talking about right now, really."
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Pintauro, who now uses the name "Daniel," narrated how he began using crystal meth after a failed relationship in the early 2000s as part of his goal to step outside his sexual boundaries. He said that with the drug, he felt "incredibly heightened" in terms of his sexuality, and everything seemed exciting to him. He contracted HIV around this time, the report relays.
The "Who's the Boss?" star explained that he was just experimenting that time and that he thought the encounter was "safe." But in March 2003, he was diagnosed as HIV-positive, Business Standard reports.
Pintauro described his feelings at the time as "strange and awful." He feared that he was never going to have a good relationship and that he would have to reveal his illness to everyone he was going to date. When he met his husband during their first date, he said he revealed his diagnosis immediately.
Fortunately, his partner accepted him and said he was not scared of HIV. In 2014, Pintauro married Will Tabares, the report details.
Pintauro first came out as gay in 1997 after a National Enquirer reporter threatened to reveal his long-kept secret in the tabloid. But he regretted that he failed to be a "beacon of light" for other kids who were going through the same thing.
Right now, Danny Pintauro is planning to use his HIV-positive diagnosis to "make a difference" as an activist.
