Tim Gunn on being celibate for the last 43 years: ‘This is the advent of AIDS’
"I thought he may have given me a death sentence," said Gunn
By Aaron Sugg
Fashion TV personality Tim Gunn has revealed he has been celibate for 43 years, following an unfaithful ex-partner during the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the US.
Since moving to New York City, after previously living in Washington, DC, Gunn revisited a past relationship, which ended when he was 29, beginning his celibacy journey.
Speaking on Chelsea Handler’s podcast, Gunn revealed that after a nine-year relationship with a colleague, it all came to an end while watching the US sitcom MASH.
“He’d been sleeping with just about everything that walked by” – Tim Gunn on the past relationship that turned him celibate
“I had to pull off because I was hyperventilating. I was beside myself with self-flagellation and self-pity, and it was awful,” he said.
“One of the things that he told me that night was that he’d been sleeping with just about everything that walked by, and I had been loyal and faithful to him,” he continued.
As a result, Gunn became celibate, vowing never to sleep with another man again, out of fear he might contract AIDS.
“I thought he may have given me a death sentence” – Gunn on the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the US
The pandemic began in 1981, when the CDC identified rare cases among gay men in California and New York City. From 1981 through 1990, over 100,000 people died from the sexually transmitted disease.
“This is the advent of AIDS,” said Gunn. “The self-pity then turned to completely unbridled anger because I thought he may have given me a death sentence. I was tested every six months for ten years for HIV and thankfully I had a clean slate.”
He said his sexual desires were tainted by fears of contracting the disease: “Whenever I was even tempted to engage in something that could become serious with someone, all this would come back like Niagara Falls.”
“Being celibate and being someone who lives alone was a bit of an adjustment,” said the author. “But now I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Widely known for his role as mentor on Project Runway, the 72-year-old is not publicly in a relationship.
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