On tonight's episode of VH1's Couples Therapy, the housemates will learn that cast member and former Big Brother champion Dick Donato is HIV positive.
Donato says that after keeping his diagnosis a secret for three years, he's decided to go public so that he might use his fame to bring attention to the crippling illness and the difficulty that many patients have with affording treatment.
Donato appeared on TMZ Live today, where he opened up about the hardship of paying for medication that keeps him alive:
Dick Donato Talks HIV Treatment
"The drugs are extremely expensive," Donato tells Harvey Levin. "This puts a heroin or cocaine addict to shame. It's like a 110, or 130 dollars a pill. And you cannot miss one dose...that's when you develop full-blown AIDS, and there is no cure for that."
Donato goes on to say that he was "wiped out" by the cost of treatment and only once he was completely broke was he able to qualify for Medicaid. (He specifies that he was diagnosed before the availability of ObamaCare.)
In response to news that one of his former castmates stated that she wished he had stayed on Big Brother in light of his diagnosis, Donato responded that he was not given a choice by producers.
He also says, however, that he is not bitter about being excluded from the reunion season, as he needed time to "digest" the news of his illness.
Watch Couples Therapy online at TV Fanatic to see Dick break the news to his castmates and cope with his illness in the public eye.
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