Tim Gunn says heartbreak forced him into 43 years of celibacy
Key Points
- year-old former Project Runway judge revealed deep emotional fallout from a long-term breakup.
- His nine-year Washington, D.C. relationship ended when his partner confessed widespread infidelity.
- Gunn recounted the experience on Chelsea Handler's Dear Chelsea podcast, describing panic and lost desire.
TIM Gunn has revealed he’s been celibate for 43 years — after a cheating ex left him heartbroken.
The former Project Runway judge, 72, says his 9-year relationship turned sour and it put him of men and sex forever.
“I had a very serious nine-year relationship in Washington, DC, and I loved this person deeply and would have done anything for him. And I still remember the night that it all ended,’” Gunn said on an episode of Chelsea Handler’s podcast, Dear Chelsea.
He said the former couple were in bed watching telly when his ex told him, “I have no patience for you any longer. I want you to leave.’”
“I had my own apartment, but I had been living with him for years, and I left,” he said.
“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.
“One of the things that he told me that night was that he’d been sleeping with just about everything that walked by, and I had been loyal and faithful to him,” Gunn explained. “He was the only person I’d ever been with.
“But 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.”
