Tim Gunn reveals reason for 43-year celibacy

Tim Gunn has detailed why he has been celibate for more than four decades.

During the latest episode of Chelsea Handler's Dear Chelsea podcast, the former Project Runway mentor explained that he's been celibate for 43 years following a devastating breakup.

"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 told Handler. "We were in bed watching M*A*S*H. He said to me, '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. I drove to my apartment, and I had to pull off because I was hyperventilating. I was beside myself with self-flagellation and self-pity, and it was awful."

Gunn, who also executive-produced the reality fashion series from its 2004 debut through to 2017, added that his former partner had not been faithful.

"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. He was the only person I'd ever been with."

He continued, "The self-pity then turned to completely unbridled anger because I thought he may have given me a death sentence. Thankfully, I had a clean slate. 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."

Gunn currently produces and stars alongside former Project Runway host Heidi Klum in the reality fashion series Making the Cut. He is currently single.