Real World Alum Announces HIV Status!
Danny Roberts Doesn’t Want Your Pity!
The Real World: New Orleans was a little bit before my time. It wouldn’t be until MTV’s first season of The Challenge: Battle of the Seasons, that nine-year-old me would be introduced to one of my early childhood crushes, Danny Roberts. Roberts was featured on many LGBTQ blogs a few years back after an appearance on Watch What Happens Live claiming he hooked up with a straight cast member on the first season of The Challenge to someone who is “now married.” According to Jezebel, a timeline heavily suggests Real World and Road Rules alums, Mike “The Miz” Mizanin or Adam Larson are the suitors. I’m willing to bet it is Larson (pictured below) because he looks like every closeted guy I’ve ever hooked up with. Regardless, I don’t think we’ll ever have a definite answer as Roberts seems pretty tight lipped, but he is making one more big announcement.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Roberts, the now-New York City local, father, and Digital Design Recruiter has publicly revealed he is living with HIV. He’s been HIV Positive for the last seven years and learned the news via telephone by his Doctor. Roberts tells:
“The reason I want to share this story is that I spent so long battling and beating myself up for my own misconceptions and bigotry. It is difficult to admit the negative feelings you had about a set of people and state of being based on made-up stories. My first reaction was shock. Then I was angry, then lots of denial. Those early years were very difficult and very lonely. You don’t know whom to turn to have conversation and people don’t know what to say. It’s not something that people have experience with. There’s also the potential likelihood of massive judgments about what behaviors led to this and what kind of people this happens to. The last thing I ever want is pity. I just want people to know and be aware. I knew so little myself so I get it.”
Roberts was the twinky, adorable, nice-gay-guy who I hadn’t seen on television before. There’s been a long line of quality gay men to have graced MTV since, but Roberts would always be a stand out as being the first Challenge winner and having his then-boyfriend’s face blurred out on television due to the Clinton Administration’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy on military service by the LGBTQ community. Close to World AIDS Day, Roberts, 41, is continuing to expand our universes.
For Roberts full disclosed interview with Entertainment Weekly head here.
Why the “!” at the end of the
Why the "!" at the end of the title? Is this supposed to be exciting news? Tacky.