Inside the dark world of bug chasing: Moment gay man, 53, on a mission to get HIV reveals he 'liked it' when a man he'd slept with texted him to reveal he had AIDS

A controversial sexual fetish where people actively seek to contract HIV has been explored in a Channel 4 documentary.

It’s a Sin actor Nathaniel J Hall, from Manchester, investigated the world of 'bug chasing' and spoke to a 'chaser', a man who doesn’t take PrEP – medication which prevents HIV from getting into the body – in his mission to contract the virus.

Elsewhere Nathaniel met another man, a so-called 'gifter' with HIV, who is happy to transmit the virus to willing recipients.

Nathan, who is HIV positive himself, became emotional at one point, asking: 'Why do we feel so s*** about ourselves that we want to do this to ourselves.' 

One gay man explained it that it was always on his mind tht he could contract the virus, so his way of dealing with it was to 'actively chase it', while others seem to love the thrill of the 'risk' of catching the virus through unprotected sex. 

It’s a Sin actor Nathaniel J Hall, from Manchester, explored a controversial sexual fetish where people actively seek to contract HIV in Channel 4 documentary 

Although the outlook for people with HIV has significantly improved over the past 10 years, the virus damages the immune system, making it hard for the body to fight other diseases, which means it still has the potential to cause serious illness. 

Despite this, 'the chaser' admitted to going on the dark web to actively seek out people with HIV to send him their semen in a condom. 

He said: 'I went onto the dark web website, and they supposedly send you their semen in a condom. I tried it once and it hadn't worked.'

'The chaser' also revealed he wouldn't consider taking PrEP before sex with men whose viral load is detectable.

Viral load refers to the amount of virus in an infected person's blood. If a person is taking HIV treatment but their viral load is detectable, the treatment is not working properly and there may still be a risk of HIV transmission to sexual partners.

Asked why he doesn't take PrEP and carry on with the fantasy of having sex with HIV positive men, he said: 'If you’re going to do what you feel is right, then it should be real, so PrEP is not on the agenda.'

'The chaser' revealed he would never take HIV medication if he did end up getting the virus, despite knowing he could die. 

He said: 'I don't feel the need to, I would just be my normal self until I can't carry on. I am prepared and ready for my time when it comes.'

Nathaniel pointed out that living with HIV costs the NHS, however the 'chaser' wasn't phased saying: 'I paid into the NHS my whole life. If I need to be cared for by the NHS then I expect to be.'

The 'chaser' detailed the first time he slept with someone with HIV, saying: 'I went to Amsterdam and went down the stairs and there was loads of hot guys, I gave one my phone number and three days later he messaged saying ''I got AIDS, haha'. I quite liked that.'

Nathaniel investigated the world of 'bug chasing' and spoke to a 'chaser', a man who doesn’t take PrEP – medication which prevents HIV from getting into the body – in his mission to contract the virus

When Nathaniel asked if he was scared of getting HIV, 'the chaser' replied: 'No it's just like getting the flu.'

Nathaniel responded: 'Well, it is a little bit different to the flu, it can actually kill you.' To which 'the chaser' quipped: 'It can, but so can the flu.'  

The actor pointed out that without treatment AIDS is 'guaranteed to kill you' but the chances of dying from the flu 'are much less.'

'The chaser' added: 'Well on that point you are correct but I am 53-years-old, I have come to the point in life where I do what I want to do.'

Elsewhere Nathaniel met with a 'gifter' to find out the reasoning behind wanting to pass on the virus to others. 

Nathaniel, who was diagnosed with HIV when he was 16 and became an activist after years of shame, first heard about bug chasing 10 years ago when someone messaged him on a dating app asking would he 'gift them' his HIV. 

Elsewhere Nathaniel met another man, a so-called 'gifter' with HIV, who is happy to transmit the virus to willing recipients

The actor said: 'I can't wrap my head around this. Why would someone want to pass on HIV? Most people who are HIV positive like me are taking medication so we can't pass it on and we are desperate not to, so this is the bit that I have been absolutely dreading.'

The 'gifter', who covered his face with a mask to conceal his identity, revealed he has been HIV positive for 18 months and he doesn't take any medication for it. 

He said: 'I have been doing unprotected bareback sex for about seven or eight years. It was always on my mind if this would be the time that I would end up HIV positive, I couldn't fully relax so in the end I decided to actively chase it.

'When I started doing bareback sex it was like being let off the leash almost, because I had led quite a closeted life until that point.'

Speaking about 'gifting' his HIV to someone for the first time he added: 'I feel like I gave him a present he had been wanting for a long time.' 

He added: 'When people ask me to infect them, I do have quite a long chat with them about potential consequences.'

Nathaniel discovered that although most of the bug chasing is taking part online as a fantasy, there are a small minority of people who are acting it out in real life. 

He said: 'It's complicated but I think it has something to do with our shared experiences of stigma and shame as gay men.' 

Looking on an online forum, he discovered posts from people who talked about the efforts they've made - using the slag term 'poz' to indicate HIV positive. 

'I've crashed a few poz only parties. At one I had to pretend to be poz to get in, which by itself was such a rush,' one wrote. 

'You can see there's risk involved here. The thrill,' Nathaniel commented.