I have HIV, says Eurovision star

Eurovision song Contest winner Conchita Wurst has said she is Hiv positive and has been living with the virus for many years.

The bearded Austrian drag queen, pictured, who won the contest in 2014, said she had been blackmailed by a former friend who wanted to publish the information, and decided to come out herself with it before he did. she wrote in an online post that she had been receiving medical treatment for many years and that she was feeling healthy and strong. Conchita, the alter ego of Thomas neuwirth, wrote that ‘coming out is better than being outed by a third party’.

she added: ‘i hope to encourage (others) and make a step against the stigmatisation of people who through their own behaviour or through no fault of their own were infected with Hiv.’