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'Who's The Boss?' Actor Says He's Been HIV Positive For 12 Years
Pintauro starred on the Tony Danza sitcom "Who's The Boss?" (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
In a 'Where Are They Now?' segment for Oprah Winfrey, former child star from the Tony Danza sitcom Who's The Boss? Danny Pintauro said that he's been living with HIV for 12 years.
Pintauro, 39, told Oprah that he was diagnosed in 2003 following a regular health check-up, saying, "As a responsible gay man, you're getting an HIV test done every six months."
Now, he wants to use his status to work as an activist in the LGBT community. "It's just a big deal. It's not something that people are talking about right now really," Pintauro said. Before he was diagnosed in March 2003, Pintauro said he was "completely clueless" that he had the virus, but that he was surprisingly calm when he got the news that he was HIV positive. He told Winfrey, "You've spent so much time terrified that you're going to get it, and then you have it. You don't have to be terrified anymore."
Pintauro went on to say, "There's this awful feeling of 'I'm never going to be able to have a good relationship, no one's every going to want me,' Pintauro told Oprah. "That was there and that was prevalent. You know, that moment of 'Oh God, I'm now going to have that conversation every time I meet someone. Who's going to want to love me?'" But Pintauro did find love, and married Wil Tabares in 2014.
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