Gareth Thomas revealed he turned to former EastEnders star Samantha Womack after finding out he had HIV.
The former rugby player went public with his diagnosis over the weekend, stating that a newspaper had threatened to reveal his personal health news to the world.
In a documentary which aired on Wednesday night, the 45-year-old met with Womack, 46, for the first time since they were in a pantomime together in 2017.
The actress recalled the day Thomas spoke to her about his health, shortly after being “blackmailed” by a journalist who had discovered his HIV status.
“You were a complete state,” she said. “You didn’t know what to do and you were completely lost.
“I couldn’t bear seeing you put in that position, you were trapped, you looked hunted.”
Explaining that he was now preparing to make his diagnosis public on his own terms, Thomas said: “I’m gonna educate people by telling them.”
Womack, who Thomas called his “guardian angel”, replied: “There is nothing wrong with contracting any disease, we all have them all the time. There should be no stigma.
“The only way you can smash this is by you understanding, before everyone else, everything you are scared of is not true.
“I’ve said this to you and I mean it, I’m with you 100 percent. Anything you need me to be.”
On Wednesday, Thomas revealed that the journalist who doorstepped his parents did so before he could tell them about his HIV diagnosis.
“They love me, they love me whatever,” he said. “It’s just, I can never have that time back, I can never have that moment back just to sit down with them and be able to explain to them why their own son is going to be okay and will live through this and live a healthy life.”
Gareth Thomas: HIV and Me is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
