Dick Donato

Richard Louis Donato (born June 24, 1963) is a bar manager and podcaster from Los Angeles, California whose nickname is Evel Dick. He was the winner of the reality game show Big Brother 8. He and his daughter, Daniele Donato, are the only family member pair to win the American Big Brother program's top two prizes in the same competition. Dick holds the record as the show's oldest winner (age 44 at the time), and Daniele is the youngest person (having turned 21 during the competition) ever to win one of the American program's top two prizes. Dick returned for Season 13 of Big Brother as a team with his daughter Daniele, but departed the show citing "personal reasons" during the first week. In 2014, Donato announced that the reason he departed the show was due to a positive HIV diagnosis.[1]

Dick Donato
Donato signing autographs in 2011.
Born
Richard Louis Donato

(1963-06-24) June 24, 1963
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other namesEvel Dick
TelevisionBig Brother 8 (winner)
Big Brother 13
Children2, including Daniele

Biography

Donato was a stand-in for Keith Richards in the 2007 motion picture Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.[2] Because of Donato's claims to have met, known, or even dated various celebrities, he has been accused of lying just to drop names. However, Dizzy Reed of the rock band Guns N' Roses says that Donato is not a name dropper, that people drop his name.[3] The nickname "Evel Dick" originated with an email address Donato once made up.[4] Donato is the father of Vincent and Daniele Donato.

After Big Brother

Donato said he planned to use a portion of the $500,000 to pay for his daughter's college education.[5] Although directly splitting prize winnings was banned by contest rules,[6] he could pay for his daughter's education and buy presents.[7] On Wednesday, March 19, 2008, episode of Big Brother 9, Donato revealed that he had taken Daniele to Europe and bought her a red car with his prize money.

Donato was nominated for[8] and won[9] the Golden Realitini for Favorite Reality Performer[10] in the Fox Reality Really Awards for 2007 against Len Goodman, New York, Sanjaya Malakar, Ant (comedian), and Christopher Knight & Adrianne Curry.[11] He was also nominated for Best Winner, Favorite Villain (which he also won), Favorite Potty Mouth, and Best Fight for his confrontation with Jen Johnson.[12] Fox Reality Channel recorded the ceremony on October 2, 2007, and aired it on October 13.[13]

In 2009, TV Guide Named "Evel Dick" Donato on the list of "Evil Reality TV Villains" placing him on the list next to 12 others including Simon Cowell and Gordon Ramsay[14]

In 2011, Donato returned to Big Brother on the thirteenth season of the American Big Brother alongside his daughter despite reports they had not spoken to each other for three years. He left the house on day 6 of the show stating that something bad had happened to someone close to him. It was later revealed that the show's medical staff had discovered that he was HIV positive and provided that information to him in the Diary Room.[15]

Donato was a cast member on Season 5 of Couples Therapy on VH1 with Dr. Jenn Berman. On October 1, 2014, Donato revealed on the show that he has been living with HIV since 2011. He told People magazine he does not know how he contracted the disease, but he suspects that it happened during unprotected sex with a stripper in Las Vegas after a long night of drinking.[16][17]

References
  1. "Virtualglobaltv".
  2. Grodner Looks Forward to Getting 'Interactive' Archived 2007-07-09 at the Wayback Machine
  3. http://www.realitywanted.net/2007/08/10/big-brother-8-recap-thursday-august-9th-big-brother-live-eviction-show/ Big Brother 8 Recap - Thursday August 9th Big Brother Live Eviction Show
  4. "The 'Big Brother 8' Winning Father-Daughter Team Sounds Off". Archived from the original on 2008-05-14. Retrieved 2007-09-28.
  5. http://www.mortystv.com/big_brother_interviews.shtml Daniele Donato Interview
  6. BB8 Big Brother's Evel Dick and Daughter Daniele Sound Off
  7. "'Big Brother' finalists talk about the experience". Archived from the original on 2007-10-18. Retrieved 2007-09-26.
  8. "Fox Reality". Archived from the original on 2007-10-08. Retrieved 2007-09-28.
  9. Big Brother Takes Top Honors at Fox Reality Channel Really Awards 2007 with Five Awards Including Audience Nominated Golden Realitini
  10. Really Awards 2007
  11. Announcing the Reality Remix Awards 2007
  12. Reality Rollcall
  13. "Fox Reality Doing Second Really Awards Show". Archived from the original on 2007-08-12. Retrieved 2007-09-28.
  14. "Entertainment and Celebrity News, TV News and Breaking News".
  15. "Big Brother's Dick Donato Reveals He's HIV Positive".
  16. Helling, Steve (October 1, 2014). "Big Brother Winner Dick Donato: 'I Am HIV Positive'". People. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  17. "Evel Dick Announces HIV positivity on "Couples Therapy"". Empty Lighthouse Magazine. October 1, 2014. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
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