TV's most infamous quizzer has opened up about his HIV diagnosis , living on the streets, brushes with the law, and what life is like after TV fame.
CJ De Mooi was once a staple on weeknight quiz show Eggheads , but has not worked since he was accused of sexual assault four years ago.
After a tumultuous journey from homeless teenage runaway to household name, CJ lost it all and, now bankrupt, is facing the possibility of homelessness once again as he battles huge legal costs.
The former TV personality, now 49, changed his name to Connagh Joseph De Mooi while still a teenager in an effort to distance himself from his family after leaving home.
From his home in Monmouthshire, which he shares with husband Andrew, CJ told Wales Online : "I didn't leave home because I never looked at that place as home.
"It was never a happy environment for me - a young gay man who was very liberal - and, after a lot of violence and unhappiness, in March 1987 I just walked out into a thunderstorm and hit the streets of south Yorkshire. That was that."
The young CJ spent three or four months on the streets, before setting off to London, Holland and Germany in pursuit of his fortune.
In 1989, he was diagnosed with HIV but said it came as a "relief" because he was so depressed.
"I was glad that I was going to die. I walked out of the hospital with a big smile on my face."
CJ said he has always had a very good memory, and would sit and read the dictionary or encylopedia for fun at the age of eight or nine.
"Nothing made me happier. I was never happy at school because I soon realised that they weren't teaching me anything I needed to know, they were just teaching me to pass exams.
"Once I realised that, I just started to learn for fun."
It was this drive that led CJ to an appearance on The Weakest Link almost 20 years ago. Completely unknown at the time, when he was voted off despite not being the weakest contestant his furious tirade against his fellow competitors earned him a spot in the show's history.
After being voted off, he said: "I think it's pretty obvious that they're all idiots. I clearly wasn't the weakest link and all I can hope for in the final rounds is that they don't earn a single penny."
But now, CJ has admitted it was all an act to get as much of the limelight as possible.
"I had pre-planned a very bitter and twisted tirade against the other contestants and that got me noticed," he revealed.
It was this tirade that set the gears in motion for CJ's brush with celebrity. In 2003, he received a call about Eggheads - a new quiz show the BBC were developing to screen at 6pm every day.
The filming schedule saw a week's worth of shows filmed in one 12 hour day a week, with CJ spending the rest of the time with his head firmly buried in books.
"When I first started on the show I was just an above-average quizzer but when it was clear that the show had a future I wanted to prove that I could really do it, so it became what I did every day, seven days a week," he said.
"At one point I made a list of 50 books that I needed to read and made my way through them all. That's all I would do: study, read, prepare."
Eggheads not only brought CJ a "comfortable income", but it also saw him propelled into fame - something he had never encountered before.
"I was fine with all that because my passion has always been acting and that's what Eggheads was. I was putting on a show, it wasn't really me. People in the street were lovely to me, they always have been, but online it was different. Nothing but vitriol.
"But as I always say - if people are going to be nasty, I would rather them be nasty to me rather than someone who would get upset. I couldn't care less."
However, the golden era couldn't last forever, and CJ's world was soon to come crashing down drastically.
He left Eggheads of his own accord in 2013 before returning for a further two years. But in 2016, he was accused of sexual assault.
"I was suspended by the BBC at the time. I can understand that because I was being accused of a horrific crime.
"I was questioned by police and three months later I was cleared of any wrongdoin. I hadn't done anything wrong whatsoever, but on the very day I was cleared the production company that made Eggheads on behalf of the BBC terminated my contract.
"There was no explanation. They didn't even need to give me one, as my contract was such that they could just get rid of me and that was that.
"I haven't worked since. That was three and a half years ago."
After being cleared of all allegations, CJ named his accuser online. Although the law gives all alleged victims of sexual assault lifetime anonymity, this is not the case in Scotland where the alleged offence took place. However, despite this, CJ's accuser threatened him with legal action and made it clear he intended to sue.
The expensive and fraught battle that followed has left CJ facing huge costs, and maybe even his Welsh home.
"The only asset I have is my house and I was declared bankrupt last year.
"It's been hell since then - I don't have a bank account and I'm not allowed to do any business. I have had to beg and borrow. My husband works as a costume designer but he's having to do everything because I can't earn anything.
"If my house is saved my legal fees are going to be around £40,000, but there's still a chance that due to the bankruptcy I could go to court and the house will be put up for sale to cover my debts. If that happens, my husband and I will be homeless."
CJ faced other allegations of theft, assault and child abuse before his extraordinary arrest at Heathrow Airport in September 2016 for alleged murder. The arrest came after he wrote in his 2015 autobiography about an encounter with a mugger in Amsterdam.
Claims were made that CJ wrote: "He caught me on the wrong day and I just snapped. I fully suspect I killed him; I've no idea what happened to him."
But these words do not appear in his book.
He actually wrote: "I half-punched, half-pushed him into the canal. Trembling with rage and with fists still tightly clenched, I'm ashamed to say I walked away. I didn't give this creature another thought."
This turn of events propelled CJ back into the headlines, but for all the wrong reasons.
"I was arrested, taken to court and had my name splashed all over the national media," he said.
"But there was one thing nobody seemed to realise - it was all based on a lie. Some Dutch man who had a book coming out claimed I had said certain things in my book. I never said anything like that.
"The Dutch prosecutor very quickly withdrew the arrest warrant because the authorities had made an embarrassing error. The judge had to apologise."
CJ is still battling to keep his HIV under control, and has also battled skin and mouth cancer. But far from the depressed young man who received the diagnosis 30-years-ago, CJ - who is now happily married and runs a charity - is determined to fight for his health.
"About three months ago things were very, very bad. I lost a lot of weight and I was in and out of hospital. I run a lot to try and keep as healthy as I can, so that keeps me slim, but even so I was weighing less than ever.
"I went to see this wonderful doctor at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff and he was very concerned. He put me on new medication and the results have been dramatic. I'm still not what you would call well, but I'm a lot stronger."
After the past few years of infamy, CJ said he is now "utterly unemployable", despite needing £135,000 to guarantee he won't be thrown out of his house.
"It's very difficult when it comes to any suggestion of sexual crime, even if it's not totally true," he said.
"With all the stories spread about me, I can't get a job here for love nor money. In the entertainment industry nobody will touch me.
"I will never get paid work again in this country, I know that.
"I used to work with between 20 and 30 charities. A lot of these have cut ties with me. Now it's about three.
"I'm heading to New Zealand later this year and if I like it I might decide to split my time between here and there. There's been a lot of baggage over the last three or four years. I just feel like I need a fresh start, before I get too old."
CJ takes to social media every day to post positive messages to his followers, and said being part of a running club "literally saved my life".
"I've been at some very low points. I've been suicidal, I've been there," he said.
"All I ever wanted to do is make people happy and be happy myself, so even when I feel terrible and depressed I will force myself to just put on a T-shirt and put on a smile and do a quick social media video.
"No matter how bad you feel there is always someone out there who feels worse. I have found true love and all things balanced out, I am very happy. I just want to spread a little bit of that."
CJ is now preparing to run the Cardiff Half Marathon in October, one month before his 50th birthday, where he hopes to beat his personal best and raise money for The Wallich, a homeless charity based in Cardiff.
"For the time being at least I have a roof over my head," he said. "Unfortunately there are a lot of people who don't."
