Celebrity MasterChef’s Riyadh Khalaf became one of the first gay men to donate blood yesterday after historic new rules came into place this week.
New eligibility rules came into effect on World Blood Donor Day on Monday and mean that donors in England, Scotland and Wales will no longer be asked if they are a man who has had sex with another man.
Riyadh attended a blood donation centre and documented his experiences on last night’s episode of The One Show.
After eight minutes, the process was completed and Riyadh was elated.
‘What a great feeling,’ he enthused.
‘That felt amazing and today there’s a real feeling in the air that a discrimination has ended, that a wrong has been put right and it reminds me of the countless people that fought over the years for change like this to happen,’ Riyadh added.
‘There’s no question that now, I’m a blood donor for life.’
Riyadh, an Irish-Iraqi broadcaster and internet personality, won last year’s series of Celebrity MasterChef.
He fought off competition from 19 other famous faces during the 2020 edition of the BBC One series and beat two Olympic gold medalists – rower Sir Matthew Pinsent and hockey player Sam Quek – in the final.
NHS Blood and Transplant has said any individual who attends to give blood regardless of gender will be asked if they have had sex and, if so, about recent sexual behaviours.
Anyone who has had the same sexual partner for the last three months will be eligible to donate, meaning more gay and bisexual men will be able to donate blood, platelets and plasma while keeping blood just as safe, it added.
The changes to the donor safety check form will affect blood, plasma and platelet donors but the process of giving blood will not change.
Eligibility will be based on individual circumstances surrounding health, travel and sexual behaviours shown to be at a higher risk of sexual infection, NHS Blood and Transplant added.
Under the changes people can donate if they have had the same sexual partner for the last three months, or if they have a new sexual partner with whom they have not had anal sex and there is no known recent exposure to a sexually transmitted infection (STI) or recent use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) or post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP).
Anyone who has had anal sex with a new partner or with multiple partners in the last three months will be not be able to give blood but may be eligible in the future, it said.
The One Show airs weekdays at 7pm on BBC One.
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