A Californian woman who was once one of the world’s most successful porn stars has started a new life as a pastor.
Brittni De La Mora and her husband Richard, both 31, preach the gospel at Cornerstone Church in San Diego, but six years ago Brittni’s life was very different.
‘There was a period in the porn industry where I was earning a lot of money.When I first started, I was making about $30,000 a month, because I was working every day,’ she recounted.
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Changes: Former porn star Brittni De La Mora has now found a new life as a pastor in San Diego
Career: Performing under the stage name Jenna Presley, Brittni (pictured in 2006 at an adult entertainment convention), now 31, appeared in about 300 adult videos
Duo: After quitting porn, Brittni met Pastor Richard De La Mora and fell in love with him; they married in 2016 and now preach the gospel at Cornerstone Church in San Diego
‘I had a brand new Mercedes and every new Louis Vuitton purse, Christian Louboutin heels… I really played the part.’
Brittni, who performed under the stage name Jenna Presley, featured in about 300 adult videos, but the cameras didn’t capture the turmoil in her personal life.
Past: Brittni (pictured in a file photo) was 16 when she was asked to perform at a strip club
‘I was struggling to pay my rent because I had a really bad drug addiction. I would spend thousands and thousands of dollars a week on drugs,’ she said.
‘I started off with cocaine but then eventually I was battling a heroin addiction.’
Brittni had her first brush with the sex industry aged just 16, when she traveled to Mexico for a night with friends.
‘I felt rejected as a child and teenager, in my households there was a lot of chaos and animosity, so I started looking for love and acceptance in all the wrong places,’ she recounted.
‘When my friend said they were going to go out to a club, I went with them and ended up getting drunk.
‘That was my first experience at a strip club.I had blonde hair and braces and they just put me on the stage that night.’
Spreading the word: The former porn star now does public speaking
Support: Her friend Raven Bay (pictured left) turns to Brittni for religious support and guidance
Couple: ‘I’m beyond proud of my wife’s transformation,’ Richard (pictured right) said.’It just moves my heart because here was a woman who was once lost and now she is found’
Jobs: In addition to being a public speaker (left and right), Brittni works in real estate
Brittni began stripping to pay her way through university and was recruited by two porn producers who said they made ‘romance movies’ and she was destined to be a star.
‘I was naive but I wasn’t that naive, I knew they were talking about porn films.I got accepted to be represented by a premier agency and I made the move to become a full-time porn star and dropped out of college,’ she said.
Two months in, Brittni caught gonorrhea and began to strongly dislike the work she was doing.
‘I ended up using drugs because there was a director who told me that I was fat and needed to lose weight.I weighed around 105 pounds. I was devastated.
‘About a year prior I had been released from hospital for anorexia, so it was a huge trigger for me,’ she said.
Brittni asked a particularly thin model how she maintained her weight, and was told about snorting cocaine and doing crystal meth.Brittni tried cocaine and felt instantly hooked.
Events: Brittni also attends porn conventions to speak with performers about the Bible’s teachings.In case you have just about any issues relating to wherever and also how you can make use of como empezar un xxx porn, you’ll be able to call us on our web page. She is pictured posing at a convention
Working: She posed in front of a ‘Jesus Loves Porn Stars’ poster for the XXX Church, an organisation that supports people struggling with porn addiction
‘I had more energy,’ she said.’I could perform the scenes and not even think about the repercussions anymore. It was giving me this false sense of happiness.
‘I thought I was happy while I was doing it but the moment I would come down, I wasn’t happy anymore so I would have to do another line.’
While she was ranked as one of the world’s hottest porn stars, Brittni’s lifestyle left her wrestling with heroin addiction and suffering from frequent suicidal thoughts, until one day she knew that if she didn’t call her grandmother to help her, she would take her own life.
Brittni’s grandmother picked her up from where she was living in Los Angeles and moved her into her home in San Diego.
With her grandmother’s encouragement, Brittni started going to church and embarked upon the long road to get clean and start a new life, quitting the porn industry in 2012.
Together: Richard and Brittni couple have written two relationship books together, set to be released later this year
Network: Brittni is pictured watching a sermon at the Cornerstone Church where she is a pastor for the young adult ministry
Youth: Brittni is pictured doing some public speaking at a high school
Public persona: Brittni (second from left) has spoken openly about her former career and how her life has changed
Brittni began attending the Cornerstone Church, where Pastor Richard De La Mora was preaching, and over the course of a year, fell in love with him.
The pair were married in 2016, and together they now lead the young adult ministry at their church.Brittni also attends porn conventions to speak with performers about the Bible’s teachings, and works in real estate.
‘I’m beyond proud of my wife’s transformation,’ Richard said. ‘It just moves my heart because here was a woman who was once lost and now she is found.’
The couple have written two relationship books together, set to be released later this year.
‘I’m a real estate agent now and I make just as much as I did in the porn industry and I don’t have to take my clothes off, so I’m much happier now,’ Brittni said.
‘I say that I live life with no regrets.If I had never gotten into the porn industry, I wouldn’t have got to do all of the incredible things I’m doing now.’