January 2019 is turning into the month that former porn stars reveal how faith in Christ led them to cast aside their profession of vice to follow God. Less than two weeks after the viral conversion story of Brittni De La Mora made the rounds on social media, now is the story of former porn star-turned Christian counselor Crystal DiGregorio-Bassette.
Formerly known as Nadia Hilton, Crystal worked for some of the top porn companies in the business for as many as 10 years before giving it all up to follow God. Today, at age 34, she works as a Christian counselor and as a full-time paralegal in upstate New York.
Speaking with Fox News, Crystal said the turning point for her came one Easter Sunday when she “found herself weeping at the altar,” after being in an ongoing abusive relationship.
“God removed the veil from my eyes, I started looking at the world differently,” she said. “I noticed how much people were being hurt by the porn industry and I never really thought of it before that.”
Leaving the porn industry did not come easy; she owned a $10 million mansion in Malibu and was making $30,000 a month at the time. Eventually, she reached a point where she could not live that way and decided to leave once and for all. She filmed her last adult film scene at age 31.
“I decided that I wanted to help people and stop hurting people,” she said. “I was blind before. Literally, my last two scenes were the most horrific I had to do. It felt like I was getting raped on the set. I was just sitting there reading the Bible, waiting for my scene, learning more about God.”
Crystal told Fox that her well-known past has allowed some people to feel more comfortable with being vulnerable about their own personal struggles and failures.
“Anybody feels that they can come to me, and that’s what I like about it,” she said. “They can talk to me openly and not have to worry about me judging them. We all do wrong. Nobody’s perfect. It didn’t matter if you’ve been saved your whole life or you walk into my church with full-on tattoos. I accept them for who they are, not attack them.”
The road to salvation has not been without trials for Crystal. She has lost several jobs over her past, and her son still gets bullied. Today she attends Lighthouse Mexico Church of God, in Mexico, New York under pastor Ron Russell.
“I’m not perfect. I make mistakes,” she added. “I’m going through a divorce and at times I don’t understand why, but I know everything happens for a reason. God will put you through things to make you stronger, you just can’t ever give up. You need to leave your past behind. Your rearview mirror in your car is small for a reason and your windshield is much larger because the future is bigger than your past.”
