Queer Eye star Jonathan Van Ness comes out as HIV+ in new memoir

One of the stars of the TV show Queer Eye has opened up in a new memoir about a drug addiction and how he became HIV-positive.

Jonathan Van Ness is HIV-positive, he reveals in his upcoming memoir, a report on Saturday said.

The New York Post reports that Van Ness, one of the Fab Five from Netflix’s Queer Eye, discusses his diagnosis — along with his past drug addiction and other reckless behaviour in Over the Top, due out on Tuesday.

The 32-year-old grooming expert writes that he struggled immensely growing up, particularly due to backlash against his “feminine identity.”

Queer Eye's Jonathan Van Ness. Picture: Supplied

He was his high school’s first male cheerleader — and people would throw bottles at him from the stands, he says.

At 19, he skipped his senior year of high school to start college early at the University of Arizona, where he blew his allowance on cocaine. Instead of asking his mom for more money, he instead placed ads for sex online.

Antoni Porowski, left, and Jonathan Van Ness, cast members from Queer Eye. Picture: AP

He flunked out of school. Van Ness writes that he then got his beautician certificate and moved to LA. There, his drug addiction got worse, and he got hooked on methamphetamine.

He went to rehab twice, relapsing both times, he says.

At 25, he fainted in a salon while working on a client’s hair.

Queer Eye stars Jonathan Van Ness, Antoni Porowski, Tan France, Bobby Berk, and Karamo Brown. Picture: Austin Hargrave

The next day, he visited a Planned Parenthood health centre to take care of his flu-like symptoms. Instead, he found out he was HIV-positive.

“That day was just as devastating as you would think it would be,” Van Ness writes, according to the New York Times.

Since then, Van Ness — who now describes himself as a “member of the beautiful H.I.V.-positive community” has recovered from his addiction and is healthy. He no longer does hard drugs, though he still drinks and smokes marijuana.

Karamo Brown,Bobby Berk,Antoni Porowski,Tan France, Jonathan Van Ness. Picture: Getty

This article originally appeared in the New York Post and is republished here with permission