Charlie Sheen says he was the victim of extortion and has paid blackmailers over $10 million to not reveal his diagnosis.

After days of speculation, controversial actor Charlie Sheen sat down with Matt Lauer on The Today Show to discuss his HIV status for the first time in public.

“I would like to admit that I am in fact HIV-Positive,” he told Lauer, adding that he was blackmailed and extorted by people he revealed his status to. He added that a sex worker that he hired once took a photo of anti-viral medication that she found in his bathroom and threatened to sell it to the tabloids.

Sheen’s disclosure comes just one day after The National Enquirer ran a cover story claiming he had been diagnosed four years ago.

He revealed that he is unsure of how he contracted the virus, but that sudden painful headaches prompted him to seek help.

“It started with what I thought was a series of crushing headaches. I thought I had a brain tumour. I thought it was over,” he said.

“It’s a hard three letters to absorb. It’s a turning point in one’s life,” the 50-year-old actor said.

Charlie Sheen is famous for his work in Hollywood, as well as the hugely successful series Two and a Half Men.