HIV Positive Contestant Jack Mackenroth Leaves 'Project Runway'

It was a rather sad ending to his Project Runway experience as sexy man Jack Mackenroth became the first contestant ever to check himself out of the game before the runway show off. The openly HIV positive contestant bid himself auf wiedersehen after a bacterial infection caused his mouth to swell.

Now in its fourth season, Project Runway has been dubbed by some as the gayest show on television with its numerous openly gay contestants and its flair for the dramatic.

Mackenroth offered some great eye candy with his perfectly buffed body, but it was his candor about his HIV status, which really made the gay audience take note.

Prior to the fifth challenge, Mackenroth began to feel pain in his nose and throat, which he attributed to a staph infection and chose to leave the show.

"There was an issue of contagion so I didn't feel comfortable," he told People magazine. "It's bacteria. Anyone can get it by touch. So that's not fair. And number two, [the medication] is such a strong antibiotic that it takes two hours to administer [intravenously]. It's four hours a day that I would have been gone. "

Previously kicked off contestant, funny man Chris March was brought back to the competition to keep the show lively and on track.

Mackenroth told People magazine that he was recovering fine and that he wished that he could have stayed on the show a little longer. Rumor also has it that he is now dating Top Chef finalist Dale Levitski.

Mackenroth confirmed the rumor in People saying, ?"I always thought he was hot! On my MySpace page there's this little section that says who do you want to meet? And I put I want to meet Dale Levitski from Top Chef! I just threw it out there into the universe. And so a friend of his saw my page, told Dale, and then Dale messaged me. We started chatting and then we ran into each other at a party in New York City and we just clicked."

Written By Dylan Vox