This Morning’s Dr Ranj Singh and Eurovision icon Conchita | Photos by Piers Allardyce (Conchita picture from Wiki)
Dr Ranj Singh has spoken out in support of singer Conchita Wurst after she revealed her HIV status at the weekend.
The Austrian singer, who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2014, said on Instagram that she is HIV positive and has been receiving treatment for ‘several years’.
She shared the news after an ex ‘threatened to go public’ with the information, she said.
‘Personally and professionally, there is no shame in talking about your HIV status,’ Dr Ranj told Gay Star News.
‘In fact we need more people talking about it because it helps everybody else.’
The resident doctor on British TV show This Morning furthermore added: ’I think it’s shameful someone would hold that against anybody. But Conchita has taken control and power back. That’s fantastic. It’s really sad she was forced into a corner, but she’s dealt with this the best way she could. I’m so proud. She should be celebrated.’
‘Sadly we do live in a world where there’s still stigma’
Dr Ranj was speaking at The Auction, the annual London fundraiser for HIV and sexual health charity the Terrance Higgins Trust.
‘Sadly we do live in a world where there’s still stigma,’ he added at the party at Christie’s. ‘But I don’t think she needs to back down because of that. She’s way better than any stigma that goes her way.
‘We need more and more of it. Many people in the world live with HIV, and a very tiny proportion live openly with it, because they’re afraid. They shouldn’t be.
‘There are still parts of the world where that puts you at a serious disadvantage. That needs to change. And it’s only through people speaking up and talking about it and saying “You know what? I have it too, and look at me” and being an example, that we’re going to make things better.’
‘The entire community is here to support her’
Gay bobsledder and rugby player Simon Dunn also had kind words to share. ’Good for her, even though it had to happen in awful, awful circumstances,’ he told us. ‘But at least she knows the entire community is here to support her.’
Dancer, choreographer and Celebrity Big Brother star Wayne Sleep furthermore added: ‘Baby, just keep to the enterprise of growing out any knocks about you. I give her every support I can.’
Other attendees at The Auction included lawyer and Strictly Come Dancing star Nancy Dell’Olio and walking art installation and party girl Pandemonia [below].
Lots sold on the evening included works by iconic artists such as Tracey Emin and the late Keith Haring, who died of AIDS-related complications in 1990.
Haring was a long-time supporter of the Terrance Higgins Trust; prints donated by his trust sold for £40,000 [$57,371, €46,280].
The grand total raised at the event was £174,000 ($249,00, €202,000).
