‘Project Runway’ Star Shares Heartbreaking Reason for His 43-Year Celibacy

Beloved Project Runway mentor Tim Gunn shared the devastating reason he’s remained celibate for the past 43 years.

The 72-year-old opened up about a painful breakup in his twenties during a Feb. 19 episode of the Dear Chelsea podcast, hosted by comedian Chelsea Handler and writer Catherine Law.

“I had a very serious nine-year relationship in Washington, D.C., and I loved this person deeply and would have done anything for him,” Gunn started.

“I still remember the night that it all ended. We were in bed watching M*A*S*H. It was the first run. And he said to me, ‘I have no patience for you any longer. I want you to leave.’”

Gunn had his own apartment at the time, but had lived with his partner for years.

“I drove to my apartment on Rock Creek Parkway. And I had to pull off because I was hyperventilating. I was beside myself with self-flagellation and self-pity. And it was awful,” he said.

To make matters worse, Gunn had to see his ex constantly: “This is someone I worked with,“ he told the hosts.

Gunn, who joked that he would “keep a psychiatrist very busy,” said his ex also gave him some unsettling information prior to their split: he had been unfaithful throughout their relationship.

“One of the things that he told me that night was that he had been sleeping with just about everything that walked by. And I had been loyal and faithful to him. He was the only person I had ever been with. And this is the Advent of AIDS. It’s 1982. And I thought…” Gunn said.

He continued, “So, the self-pity then turned to completely unbridled anger because I thought he may have given me a death sentence. And I was tested every six months for 10 years for HIV. And thankfully, I had a clean slate.”

Getting over the relationship took him a decade, Gunn said, noting that while the memories do not “hurt any longer,” the events still left a mark.

“Whenever I was even tempted to engage in something that could become serious with someone, all this would come back like Niagara Falls, and it would just take the desire away,” he said.

Gunn said the new lifestyle was “a bit of an adjustment,” but he is pleased with his choice to live alone and remain celibate.

“Now, I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he said.

Gunn said time and distance helped him heal from the past.

“It was helpful for me to get out of Washington because I wasn’t seeing him every workday,” he said, adding that working together after the breakup was “completely horrible.”

“I wanted to kill him. And I wanted him to hurt as badly as I had been hurt. He seemed to be impervious to it, though. So it was just great to get away.”

Still, Gunn sees a silver lining to the painful breakup.

“Things happen for a reason. And sometimes the reason isn’t revealed at the moment. It may not be revealed for days, weeks, or months, or sometimes even years, but had this relationship not fallen apart, I would never have moved to New York. It would never have happened,” he said.

Gunn was offered a position at Parsons School of Design in 1982, prior to the breakup, but he declined the offer because he was happy in D.C.

“But a year later, after my life had changed, Parsons called again, and I said, ‘I’ll be right up.’ And two weeks later, I was living here,” he said, adding, “It was a new beginning.”

After Gunn moved to New York, he became associate dean and later chair of the Fashion Design Department at Parsons. He authored five books and appeared on multiple TV shows, most notably with supermodel Heidi Klum on Project Runway and Making the Cut, which they created together.

Despite his remarkable accomplishments and global fame, his ex never contacted him again, Gunn said.

“I haven’t heard a thing,” he told the hosts, but added, “It’s fine.”