Singer Joy Villa burst on the scene years ago for wearing bold outfits in support of conservative leaders and causes. But, today, she’s speaking candidly about her faith — and her journey out of Scientology and into Christianity.
“I grew up Christian, born again, saved, evangelical, laying of hands, praying in tongues, you know, all the gifts, charismatic — all the gifts of the spirit,” Villa recently told The Bible Bros Podcast. “And my dad was a minister, and my parents unfortunately passed away almost 20 years ago, and so I lost them at a very young age.”
Despite growing up active in the faith, something inside Villa eventually shifted.
“I was like such a Christian scene kid, and I knew that I wanted to be a singer, and an actress, and … I wanted to go to Hollywood,” she said. “I wanted to make it. I was unfortunately abused when I was a little girl … when I was 4.”
That sexual abuse had a profound impact on Villa’s thoughts and perspective as she grew up.
“That sort of opened up a world of demonic feelings, to be honest, demonic control around me because I started having these feelings,” she said. “I would have dark feelings, feelings I shouldn’t be here, kind of like ideations of wanting to off myself as a kid — feeling very isolated, very alone. So I grew up with that, but also very artistic, very talented, going into arts.”
By the time Villa was around the age of 20, she was dabbling in professional acting. Living the Hollywood life, though, brought further trauma. Amid that difficulty, though, she still found herself praying and asking God for the path forward.
But she eventually found herself embroiled in Scientology — a faith system of which she was initially skeptical. Villa started going to the church’s Celebrity Center in Hollywood after she was hired to walk in a runway show.
“They give you the free personality test, they’re smiling, they’re bright, they’re clean, they’re shaking your hand, they’re looking you in the face, they’re remembering your name,” she said. “Like, you’re so traumatized in Hollywood, right? LA is crazy. And so you’re like, ‘Oh wow, you’re giving me a chance. You’re here, you’re looking at me.’ They had free acting classes. They had free seminars on health and nutrition, everything I was into.”
Over time, Villa became increasingly ingrained in the world of Scientology. Some people inside reportedly told her they were Christians, too, further confusing her theology.
“The more I learned, the more I got into it, and the more I got sucked into this system without knowing I was in the system,” Villa said. “It’s like boiling the frog very slowly. You don’t realize it until it’s too late.”
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In many ways, it was the perfect storm for Villa.
“First, it was like the feeling of wanting family. I’d lost my parents. I didn’t have a community,” she said. “So they kind of suck you in with this community. They’re like, ‘Oh, we’ll be your family.’ That’s what one of the staff members said.”
The appeal was hard to deny. Soon, Villa said Scientology put her “everywhere,” including promotional materials.
“They had posters everywhere, on all the churches, like around the world,” Villa said.
The singer said she eventually came to conclude that the “roots of Scientology are witchcraft” and “extremely dark.” Eventually, this led her to separate from the system to which she had fervently clung.
But Villa was a Scientologist for 15 years and said the faith system had become her “addiction.”
“Finally, though, it got so just like every addiction — it works in the beginning … but the cost will destroy you, and the cost started destroying me,” she said. “I lost so much weight … I was working 12 hours a day, paying for thousands of dollars a week in the United Kingdom, training to get to the next level … and these demonic voices kept telling me, ‘You’re dead. You’re going to die. You’re no good. You’re no good. You’re no good.’”
She eventually descended into sadness and realized that nothing she thought was working was actually helping to heal her. These realizations forced her to flee Scientology.
“I was constantly masking and camouflaging my pain,” Villa said. “And I broke down on my kitchen floor, and I cried, and I said, ‘Jesus help me.’ Because I would have ended my life. I would have ended my life.”
And after she left, she said the more than 100 people she led into Scientology also left — something she is relieved about.
“I’m born again and out of Scientology, like — I’m reborn again, rebaptized, gave my life over to Jesus Christ as my Lord and savior,” Villa said. “And I will never, ever go back to any man-made anything.”
She now believes she struggled with the spirit of pride as a celebrity. Scientology helped feed that “spirit of narcissism,” which fueled her association with it. Now, Villa said she spends her time warning about the dangers of Scientology.
“Praise God, He sent me free,” she said. “That was three years ago I got out, and that’s been the journey, and my life has been so much better. I lost a lot. … But I found Jesus again. … I’m the sheep. He left the 99 to find one.”
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