Updated - Hollywood actor Charlie Sheen has confirmed he is HIV positive.

He made his announcement on US network television today.

"I am here to admit I am HIV positive," Sheen said. " I have to put a stop to the onslaught and barrage of attacks and sub-truths that are threatening the health of so many others."

Rumours about his condition had been swirling since gossip site Radar Online carried an article earlier this month about an unnamed actor's HIV-positive status.

The article said "decades of debauchery have finally caught up with one of Hollywood's top megastars. In a bombshell world exclusive, RadarOnline.com can reveal that a bad-boy Tinseltown star has been hiding an explosive secret from the world: He is HIV-positive."

Sheen, 50, who is three times divorced, played the womanizing bachelor Charlie Harper on top-rated U.S. comedy series "Two and A Half Men" for eight years before being fired in 2011 for bad behavior that included cocaine-fueled partying with porn stars and a conviction for assaulting his ex-wife

He has battled alcohol and drug problems for several years.  

Wedding number four was on the cards when he announced his engagement to adult film star Scottine Ross, but it was called off after a few months.