Danny Pintauro, who starred in the ABC
sitcom Who's the Boss?, revealed this week in an interview
with Oprah Winfrey that he's been living with HIV for 12 years.
In an interview with Entertainment
Tonight, Pintauro, who came out in 1997 after the National
Enquirer threatened to reveal his sexuality, was asked whether
his Who's the Boss? family knew about his HIV status.
“I told Judith [Light] many, many
years ago,” Pintauro
answered. “I tell anyone who asks. So, for me it's actually
quite surprising that it's never come out before this.”
“Tony was great, but I could tell he
was a little disappointed, for the drugs part more than anything.”
Pintauro said that he contracted the
virus in 2003 while using crystal meth: “The drugs, for me, is what
really screwed that up. And the drugs are a big problem. It's meth.
It takes away all of your inhibitions.”
Danza told TMZ.com
on Monday that he admired Pintauro for “tying to make the world a
better place” by coming forward with his story.