CHECK Berlin #3

ENGLISH HIV POSITIVELY

ENGLISH HIV POSITIVELY PRINCE CHARMING Sexy Bastian Castillo was a contestant in the second season of the TV Now series Prince Charming. But did you know the sexy Berliner is HIV-positive, a topic he is not afraid to address? Bastian Castillo Photographer: Jörg Jasper Interview How was being on Prince Charming for you? In a nutshell, I can say that it was definitely an intense experience. I don‘t regret having participated, if only because it was completely outside of my comfort zone. I love doing crazy things, but that was special for me too. You had planned to talk to Prince Charming about something very special. But this did not happen … I am HIV positive. I wanted to address that, also to help reduce stigma and to provide more information. I had already communicated it in my application video and made it clear that I would have no problem discussing all of this publicly. I mentioned it again in the initial telephone interview and also during the actual casting. The editorial team was very happy with my openness. Also the production team wanted to find out more about my situation: How am I doing with my HIV status? What was it like when I found out I was positive? How did my family and friends react? What happened then? When it became clear that I would be one of the participants, everything went very quickly. I was flown to Crete, where the first introductory videos were filmed in which I also talked about HIV. But when it started, in the villa itself, and I was in contact with the other candidates and the prince, I somehow couldn‘t get around to addressing my status. One reason was that I wasn‘t there that long - I only made it to the third episode. On the one hand, I am not someone who introduces myself as HIV positive in the first sentence. When I get to know someone, I also want that person to see the person first, not the infected 90 CHECK | AUSGABE 3