It's A Sin star Nathaniel Hall says HIV diagnosis at 16 was a 'wake up call'

It's A Sin star Nathaniel Hall said that it was a 'wake up call' when he was diagnosed with HIV when he was just 16.

The actor, who is now 34, found out that he was HIV positive after catching the virus the first time he had sex.

Nearly two decades on from his diagnosis, the Channel 4 star is now urging for people to get tested for the virus.

Nathaniel plays Ritchie's boyfriend Donald in Russell T. Davies' hit Channel 4 drama, that centres on the 1980 AIDS crisis in London.

Speaking to Radio 1's Life Hacks at the start of this month, Nathaniel reflected on his diagnosis feeling like a 'slap in the face' when he was informed as a teenager.

It's a Sin star Nathaniel Hall contracted HIV when he was just 16 (Instagram)

"When you're 16, you think you're an adult. You think you know the world," he said on the show.

"I'm from a nice, safe, middle-class background. I was head boy at my school, I was a straight-A student."

The actor went on to reveal that he began seeing an older guy when he was still in school, before being told he was HIV positive weeks before his 17th birthday.

Nathaniel added: "I think we all have something that's our act of rebellion and I started seeing this guy who was older than me and as a result I got that diagnosis just after I'd started college.

"It was like a slap in the face, it was like a wake-up call. All of a sudden I was like a child in an adult's world."

He did not tell his family about the diagnosis for some 15 years.

Nathaniel recently starred in Channel 4's It's A Sin (Channel 4)

While there was a stigma that surrounded HIV when it first emerged in the 1980s, there have been huge leaps in science and vast medical developments around the virus.

Nathaniel is now on medication that makes his viral load undetectable meaning that he cannot pass the virus on.

The actor has also revealed that he was able to find love during the recent lockdown.

Channel 4's It's A Sin has been widely praised for tackling the difficult topics that surrounded the HIV crisis.

The actor didn't tell his parents about his diagnosis until some 15 years later (Instagram)

It's A Sin has been widely praised for raising more awareness about the history of HIV (Ben Blackall 2019)

The series sheds new light on how the crisis was dealt with in the UK as viewers follow the lives of five exuberant friends in 1980s.

Intertwined with exciting scenes of hedonism and parties, the characters are swept up in the whirlwind of London life amid the backdrop of the looming crisis.

For the five-part series, writer Russell framed the heartbreaking drama by stories from his own experiences in youth.

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