In an interview with The New York
Times, Jonathan Van Ness, Queer Eye's grooming guy,
revealed that he's been living with HIV for roughly seven years.
The revelation comes ahead of the
release of his memoir, Over the Top, on Tuesday.
The 32-year-old Van Ness said that he
was diagnosed as HIV-Positive at age 25. The diagnosis came after he
fainted at a hair salon.
“That day was just as devastating as
you would think it would be,” Van Ness wrote in his memoir.
He explained that by coming forward he
hopes to break down the stigma surrounding HIV.
“When Queer Eye came out, it
was really difficult because I was like, 'Do I want to talk about my
status?' And then I was like, 'The Trump administration has done
everything they can do to have the stigmatization of the LGBT
community thrive around me,'” he said.
Van Ness also said that as a child he
was molested by an older boy from his church, used drugs while
attending college, and once earned a living by selling his body.
After flunking out of college, he enrolled in beauty school. He added
that he's been sober for years.