In an interview with Oprah Winfrey – a show called Where Are The Now – former child star of the television hit show Who’s the Boss, Danny Pintauro, revealed that he has HIV.
“I’m HIV-positive,” Pintauro said. “And I have been for 12 years.”
Pintauro played Judith Light’s precocious son, Jonathan, on the popular Tony Danza sitcom “Who’s the Boss?” that aired from 1984 until 1992 on ABC.
Pintauro, 39, told Winfrey he wanted to share his health status “a long time ago,” but wasn’t ready. He said he decided to share it now to serve as a role model for the gay community.
“It’s just a big deal. It’s not something that people are talking about right now really,” he said.
He shared that he was diagnosed in March 2003 while living in New York. At the time he was “completely clueless” that he had the virus, he said.
Pintauro, who now lives in Las Vegas, explained that the diagnosis actually came with a sense of relief. “It’s backwards. 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 came out as gay in 1997 after the National Enquirer told him it was planning to out him.
