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Hey guys, just a quick trigger warning that in this episode we do speak about suicide, mental health and addiction. Welcome back to The Way podcast. So glad you've joined us today. I'm really excited about our episode. I'm Zach. I'm going to be hosting you guys today with Izzy Madavan. Hey! Shout out. Shout out to a real one. Guys, it's warm today, but hey, I'm really, really excited. We've got a former glamour model...

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reality TV star and OnlyFans content creator, but most importantly, now a daughter of Christ the King, Katie Salmon, welcome to the podcast. Welcome. Thank you for having me. We are so glad you're here today. We're going to get into a little bit of your story. I'm so excited to hear how Lord has just really transformed your life and made a difference for you.

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But before we get into Katie's story, you guys know the drill. If the way has been impactful for you for leading you closer to Christ, then we want that to spread to other people. So if you're watching this on YouTube, hit the notifications button, subscribe, drop a comment. We'll let you know what to comment at the end of this video.

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And if you're listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, then drop a rating and hit the follow button. And let's get into Katie's story. I'm excited. With credits. I want to start right from the beginning. Did you grow up in a Christian household? Absolutely not, no. Probably like the furthest thing away from that. Really? Yeah. And you grew up in Liverpool.

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The Wirral. So technically people would say that's not Liverpool. It's like plastic scousers, but it's close enough. Yeah. Okay. But I come from a normal, I grew up in council estate, a council house. I had like a very toxic household, you know, there was a lot of addictions, a lot of arguing, but yeah, no belief around me, no Christianity, no church or anything like that. And so, yeah, it was just very chaotic to be honest.

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Did you have siblings growing up? I had an older brother by two years, yes. Wow, that's super interesting. And so you grew up in kind of this household that was full of, you said, addiction. What did that look like more specifically, if you don't mind kind of talking about that? So my dad suffered with alcohol, alcohol addiction, since I can really remember. Like one of the first memories is probably with that.

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And obviously with them type of addictions come arguments, trauma. My mom was very angry because she was basically raising us on her own and she didn't really have the help. So there was just a lot of arguments, a lot of police always at the door. Wow. So yeah, just very broken in a lot of ways. I mean, my parents did the best that they could with what they knew how at that moment. Yeah.

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And, you know, looking back and reflecting on them times now, they had their own pain and trauma and they were going through their own battles. So I forgive them for the childhood that I had and they did the best that they could. But yeah, it's definitely was definitely hard and it definitely had an impact on me growing up.

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And how did that lead then into going into your teens and then early 20s and going on Love Island and doing modelling and beginning? How did that journey begin? How did you get into all of that? I remember wanting to be a glamour model from a very young age. I mean, really young, probably maybe about 14. I remember seeing the likes of Katie Price and stuff were on there then. So when I would see them in a magazine, I would look at them and think...

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they look empowered and men want them. And because with all due respect to my dad, I was missing that male figure in my life that was, you know, meant to protect me and to cover me in that aspect. So I kind of feel like I was searching for that from a young age. So I wasn't getting the attention and the love that I probably needed at that young age.

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So when I seen these women getting that attention on these magazines and they look like they were living in freedom and they were empowered, I wanted to be that. And it was at that point in my life, they were like the famous ones, you know, it was either the wags, like the footballers girlfriends or it was the glamor models. And I wanted attention, I wanted to be seen, I wanted to be validated because I was lacking that.

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So I had that dream from about the age of 14. And that was when I started getting involved in drinking from a young age as well. So I would drink and I would go to clubs from a really young age. Wow. Yeah, specifically the LGBT community. I would go to all of them clubs because all my friends were in that. So I joined that from a young age as well. And yeah, led on to as soon as I turned 18, I was hitting the planes and traveling around Europe to shoot for the magazines.

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Wow. What? How does that? How does that happen? Sorry. I'm. We were talking about earlier. I might look really silly on this episode because I'm not dialed into a lot of these things. So I might ask some really dumb questions and you can tell me if they're dumb questions. But how does that happen? We're like you say you turned 18 and suddenly you were just in this world. Was it like someone had like recruited you into it or you had kind of sought it out yourself? Yeah.

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I definitely was seeking it. So I would apply for all different jobs and apply for these types of places. I'd go to Castons. So I didn't really obviously have money at the time. So I would pay for like coaches to come to London, which were like eight, nine hour coaches. And I'd come down here to do Castons. And yeah, I would then get the job and then they would put me onto an agency. And then that's when like more frequent work would come in and we'd start traveling around Europe.

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it's actually some really situations that I look back there and like really worrying times that I look back and I think wow that wasn't normal that was a bit creepy and yeah there was I had an agency a guy of an agency and he was really old and

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And he was a very successful agency at that point. Like a lot of girls knew who he was and he got a lot of big deals and it was in his house and he would measure me up in my lingerie around all like my bust area and take all my measurements. And for a young girl at that age, like at the time, I was obviously super intimidated, but I look back now and think that's...

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you know, not okay. And then there was another time as well. One of the first jobs that I was ever given was that they put me in a bedroom that said 16 today and they made me dress up as a school girl. And yeah, yeah. Wow.

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So when you were saying like you wanted to do this from when you were like 14, because you saw these women as like empowered and like beautiful and attractive. How was your then experience then going into that? Like did, was it what you expected? Like, or at least to begin with or like, what was your experience of at least beginning in that world?

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I think like I was very insecure as a child and it probably didn't do me any favors because stepping into that obviously I was a young girl so I would constantly be around girls that were like had implants and had surgery and had all this work done which then put me on the road of kind of wanting to be even more like that and stepping into that world but I was very very insecure of who I was and although I might have looked like I was confident inside I really wasn't and I did feel exposed in a lot of ways but

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the attention was coming in terms of getting the magazine deals and stuff. So I believe that it was fulfilling me at that moment. And I didn't really care about the opinions of people because it was getting me the short term gratification and the exposure that I wanted at that point in my life. I thought that was fulfillment, but it's only looking back now that it's like, I just kind of want to cuddle her because it's like, you know, you, you were seeking so much more than that. And it's so sad that you were finding it in them places.

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And then, so then you went on Love Island. Was like the OnlyFan stuff before that, after that, around the same? It was after Love Island. So I was like one of the first ever LGBT couples on Love Island. So I actually coupled up with a girl on there. She sadly actually committed suicide about a year later after the show. And then we lost another two people from the show as well. So that's a lot. It's a lot. And it shows the impact of what...

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theme in that sense you know it's such a high we go in there we don't really know what we're expecting and it's overnight especially the first few seasons of love island they was really what made it super big so we'd like leave the airport and there'd be paparazzi everywhere and it was a lot of exposure very quickly and i was very young like i was only 20 when i went on the tv show that's a that's a lot for a young girl um and it kind of threw me into the limelight and it

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I think we were all affected by it clearly with, you know, unfortunately the sad news of what's happened over the years with them. It's just like the height of it, you know, you become overnight fame. And then the next year the new cast comes out and you're trying to chase that and keep that dopamine. And, you know, you're like, oh, I still want to be known. I still want the, you know, exposure and attention, but there's new seasons every year, as well as the opinion of the whole of the internet, thinking that they know you based on a few hours of a TV show.

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having an opinion of you, criticizing the way that you look, you know, who you are, what you did. So it's a lot of pressure. And then, you know, only God knows what they were also going through individually in their own personal life, in their own mind. 100%. So it's a lot. I know that I suffered within the first few years of coming off the show. I was just constantly...

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drinking, partying, just trying to really numb myself from what I was really feeling inside. It was only about, I would say maybe two years after the show when everything started to die down, I didn't make any money. I had exposure from the media. I had a known name, I had followers on Instagram, but I didn't have the finances. So then I decided- Interesting. Yeah, then I decided to join OnlyFans to get the finances.

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How long were you like doing OnlyFans then after that? I would say about maybe three years. Yeah, three years. Maybe just a bit over three years.

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Okay, this is kind of a crazy question, but I always see like the numbers for the finances, like you were saying, is ridiculous. Is that true? Well, 80% of OnlyFans platform actually make between $150 to $200 or pounds a month because it's in dollars. So 80% of the whole platform. So when people see these, you know, 20% people online who have a large following,

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or they have a previous name. That's why they've been able to sustain more of finances because obviously they have a fan base already. Or we have the likes of now where people, you know, might not have come from a TV show or might not have had followers. However, they're prepared to do the most outrageous things to pull in the audience because they have to, because they need the, you know...

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they need the followers to turn into income. So only 80% of ladies or men are men that join the platform actually make that little. So when we see everybody online, you know, proclaiming that it's really good for finances and stuff, it's very few girls and men that actually make a good living from it. And even then, you know,

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what is the cost of that? Like, you know, you can gain the whole world, but lose your soul. And it's so true. Do you feel like that's what happened with you? Absolutely, yeah. I think it's quite sad because, especially what we see today with OnlyFans and how it really has been glorified in so many ways. Back when I was on the platform, which was a while ago now,

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It was very taboo. So I was one of the first reality people to join it. And now I was, you know, I'd get turned back from jobs. People would call me in the most awful names. I wasn't supported for it at all. And I lost a lot of work. I wasn't, you know, I was slated online. Now we have slots on like really big TV shows of these girls being interviewed. So you can see within the past few years how it has completely changed and now it's being glorified and almost like putting in our faces even more.

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So it's like approved much more now than it was back then. And unfortunately, it's gotten even more derogatory and even more. Really? Yeah. Yeah. Women now, I don't think it's the same as it was back then. It's a lot more even explicit now. And people are prepared to do some really...

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sad and I'll say sad because it is sad because I believe that we are all children of God and that you know things can separate us from that growing up and that we might not know yet that that yet but everyone deserves that everyone deserves to know him and to know that they can be set free from it but we live in a society where some of these women just are broken and they're trying to find a way out it's not coming from judgment I think a lot of us truly are broken we end up in

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it's either for finances you know broken homes maybe problems in relationships with men growing up or vice versa women and we end up in these scenarios of thinking that that's fulfilling us or it's giving us short like gratification for a short time but it actually promotes freedom and offers long-term bondage and some people don't know how to get out of it which is actually really sad in my opinion and my heart actually breaks for these girls that

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continue to share these things because you can you can see you know that they're not really happy i know that because i've been it i'm not saying out of judgment i've been in that world and i made a good living from it i wasn't happy i was i was trapped wow but then in the midst of all that you said like your the first seed of the gospel that was some was you had two friends who who started telling you about jesus can you tell us like more about that

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Yeah. So I lived in Thailand at the time. And of course I was living, you know, a crazy lifestyle, which they also were witnessing. So they would come around and they would see, we would smoke, we would, you know, drink around them. And they never once put judgment on me either. They were just really lovely people. And they shared the gospel with me and about what Jesus had done in the life.

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And I was like, yous are crazy. I was like, no way. I actually was very much the universe. And yeah, I was very involved in all of that. I tried all the plant medicines and things like that. So I was like, no, that's not true. You know, it's the universe. You're crazy, basically. And they would just pray for me behind closed doors, continue to share the gospel and what baptism did for their life and, you know, how they could help me. And they never once judged me for everything that they were seeing either.

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even though I thought they were crazy and I would openly share that with them. And it was only... So valid. Yeah. I mean, it happens to me now and people say that about me, so I can't really say anything. But yeah, the seed was definitely planted then. It took years to develop within me, but they actually messaged me not that long ago saying, I've just been told to look at your profile and I cannot believe that now...

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you also know him and have a personal relationship with him and the change that he's done in your life, which is beautiful because they, you know, glory to God, that God used them as vessels at the time to actually share that truth to me. Even though I might not have been ready to actually listen to them, it was planted and developed in me as the years went on for then me to actually find that for myself.

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Because I think we can share it with people, you know, and, but we've got to be representations of that. And by them not judging me and just giving me love in that moment, that did a lot more for me than someone saying, you need to, you know, turn away from all of these things. Just giving me love in that moment made that more impactful in me years to come because I was like,

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Wow, they really were just like nice people praying for me in private and, you know, guiding me through even all of the chaos that I was doing and all the sins I was allowing into my life at that time. Wow.

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such an encouragement actually I think even just for us and thinking of our like friends and those that don't know know Jesus I guess it can be it can be easy to be like oh you should be doing this this way and that way but actually you're so right the best way of is just like loving them and that's exactly what Jesus did isn't it he had friends from all different backgrounds and all different like walks of life and he just loved them and I think that's

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Yeah. That's such a great like testament that that also works. Cause like we will almost like want to be more in control and like be like, no, this is what you're supposed to do. But actually by just loving, we allow like God to be in control of their story. Absolutely. I love that. I would love to hear a bit about, that was like some of the seeds that were planted and

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I want to hear about you being like, okay, I'm finding Jesus now. Can you tell us about what happened there? Yeah. So this is actually going to sound a bit nuts, but it's the truth. I'm ready. Okay. So I had just given birth to my daughter and I decided I didn't really want to be in that industry anymore because when I held it, I just knew that this wasn't something that I could do to my little girl. I couldn't continue to live this life and I needed to step away from it. I got the conviction that...

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without even really knowing God at that point in my life. I went through an awful breakup. It was really painful. I was in a very dark stage of my life. I suffered a postnatal depression severely. I was really in a dark place. And in the most darkest place of my life, I started to, I went to the doctors because I was developing bruising all over my body, like in such a severe way. It was like,

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black and blue, head to toe. I went to six stone. I was losing all the back of my hair. I suffered with eczema growing up, but I was head to toe covered in psoriasis and eczema and scarves. It was really severe.

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And when I went to the doctors, they wanted to check everything was okay because they were worried, like maybe cancer, you know, they give me that scary word and was like, we need to check. Everything came back on the results is completely fine. And they were like, there's nothing up with you at all. But looking at me physically, you could really see that I was going through it and I was suffering severely. I was having really intrusive thoughts at that point in my life. And I genuinely like didn't want to be here. And in my darkest moment, sorry. It's all right.

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I cried out to God and I asked him to reveal himself to me if he was real and that he could help me and he did he told me that he was the way the truth and the life and I didn't even know that that was scripture because I'd never picked up a bible in my life um a day later someone knocked at my door um who had previously been my shaman with plant medicines and I told them that I'd

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And they were like, this is incredible. I'm also on that journey. I've had an encounter myself and come in and prayed over me because they could see, you know, what was happening. And he said, let me just take you to this church. I really need to take you to this church. It's not, you know, like a normal one. You know, you're not going to be like...

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out of place, you know, these are really good people that can help you. And I walked in and the pastor without even knowing me said my whole life. And in that very moment of walking in there, I was like, please baptize me. I was like,

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Within being baptized in the same day, the bruising left my body. The psoriasis, I've never suffered with it ever since or eczema. It's completely gone from me. My life genuinely changed from that day of baptism. It was just like an overnight change and...

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bondages were broke off me within that moment and walking out of that church i knew it was that i need to know him more i need to know the bible there's got to be truth within this because i can't deny what i'm feeling and then the change that i was visibly seeing within my body um you know i still to this day don't know what was happening to me at that point but the first passage he ever led me to in the bible

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was about Mary Magdalene being found covered in bruises and with things being attached to her. And I was like, that cannot be a coincidence. Like with allowing these industries into my life and the things that I was doing,

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I still to this day just think you were trying to reveal something to me that the life that I was living was leading to darkness and ultimately leading me so far away that I might not have been in return for me, you know. And that was evidence clearly on the body and in the mind with what I was also feeling.

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And now I just give him all the glory because no one can deny the change that's happened within these three years of walking with him. And, you know, he's took away addiction. I had an addiction with heart marijuana. I drank a lot. I suffered with mental health since a young age. And I can truly hand on heart say that I don't suffer with any of them anymore. Wow.

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Is the days in my life that I feel challenged by things? Of course, I'm not saying that it's easy. I have to pick up my cross every day and surrender it all to him and lay it at his feet. But I lean on his strength now and not my own, which is something that I was missing my whole life. I thought that it was always down to me. But now I put it on...

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god and know that like it's through his strength and it is only by his grace that i am still here and that i'm even able to share this story and that it's a true representation of you're not too far gone that people can be changed and you know when you follow him he is he that's exactly what he does you are born again and you're a new creation in christ and it's been the most amazing three years walking with him

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What was the time frame from you hearing on the way of the truth in life and then you being baptized? Like a week, not even a week. Wow. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. That's crazy. Yeah. That was amazing. Yeah, it was so severe though, like the thoughts that I was feeling and the things that I was experiencing. It was so severe that it was...

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there needed to be something that was going to intervene in my life like when I was crying out I needed help I truly needed help and I had no one around me and I was lost and alone and truly didn't really see a life for me and I had a beautiful little girl you know and that was like breaking my heart because I wanted to be here for her I wanted to

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live a life with her and be a good mother to her. But at that point in my life, I was just like, I don't really see a way out of this. So the fact that, yeah, that is such a huge turnaround, but God knew that within that time that I really needed that. And by who I am and everything I've experienced in my life, growing up always...

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you know and being spiritual when I was younger at least the thought I was he knew that once he was revealed to me I was gonna believe it and give my life to it so um I guess yeah it happened quickly but it needed to because I was really at the the pits of hell at that point in my life you stepped in yeah beautiful 100% what was like in the last three years then what's been your journey in that because like that's

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It is amazing how God just comes in and just things can turn around. But we also know it's also a journey of like, you don't just become a Christian and then you're like, okay, I'm sorted now. Yeah. Like, what's your last three years look like? Like, what are the things that you've, yeah, seen in the last three years or grown in yourself or...

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So in the last three years after I come to Christ, my daughter's dad committed suicide in the three years. So then that was a hurdle that was like, that was a knock, but I leaned on him throughout that. But it was like a really painful time. Yeah. And then I also had a run in with the legal system from something that had happened while I was doing all of these, you know, living in that dark world. Interesting.

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Yeah. So that resurfaced while I was walking with Jesus and I was facing up to four years in jail. Yeah. And I waited three years for that scenario to go to court and for me to share my story about what happened. It was basically it was a fight. I was left with 15 stitches in my face and the other person was left with an injury as well.

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like a black eye and I believed that my story was going to be shown and heard and that I was going to get justice for everything that I'd been put through because I was really tarnished in the media and God made me wait three years for that to go to court and I couldn't understand why and I was like why are you making this way so long I just went over and done with you know I've changed my life around I'm a new person I want this to be behind me

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Two days before the sentencing came, they found me guilty and they didn't believe me, which was fine because I also believe that I have to take the consequences of things that I've done in my past life. It doesn't matter if I'm a new creation, you know, things will catch up with you. That's how I deal with them in that moment. I had to learn how to forgive them, forgive myself and actually be humbled. I really, truly needed to be humbled in them moments.

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But two days before a new law stepped in saying any single mothers or anyone who's never been in trouble before can't go to jail. And that's the only reason why I didn't go to jail. Otherwise I would have been facing. Yeah. So me asking God why he made me wait for years for all of this to come then made sense.

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And I was put on community service, which was really humiliating for me because I'm not, I've never been in trouble before. I'm not that type of person, but they really made an example out of me. Really affected my life, to be honest, even though I was walking with Jesus at the time. I lost everything from when I left OnlyFans. I had to start up again from scratch. I got in a lot of debt, you know, with tax and it was a lot. I lost everything and I had to start again being a single mother as well.

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And all this was happening while I was walking with Jesus, but it was a very lonely place. And in community service now, it's just, it's crazy how his will works and how he had a plan for this the entire time because...

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You know, I pray with them. Some of them have even come to church. And I share the truth of Jesus with them and about what he's done in my life. And they hear me, they listen, and they're seeking him for themselves. And it's developed a lot in me as well. You know, it humbled me.

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But it also made me realize how broken the system is in a lot of ways and how broken we as humans are and how we can make choices out of pain. And, you know, how sometimes it's actually not fair with the things that happen to us. But it's down to us on how we choose to use that and how we can be changed through that, which I believe that Christ is missing in them systems. You know, everyone has an answer. We'll do some, you know, do some meditation, do this, do this, do that.

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Christ is removed from everything. So when I've watched all this play out in the system, I've now gone on to create my own that wants to help women be rehabilitated with Christ at the center. Wow. And, you know, help them with addictions, with domestic violence, with all pain and trauma, and include Jesus in that because that was what ultimately changed my life. And I hope now that

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all of all my pain has a purpose and that he's using it for his glory even though at the time I thought it's going to go all in my favor you know it's going to be great for me people are going to hear my story I'm going to get everything back that I lost

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But no, no, he was going to take everything and make me start again, but with him and ultimately points everything back to him. And that is the truth of the change that he's done in me, but also like what he's doing around me now and how he's using me for his glory. Wow.

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It reminds me, I was reading something that C.S. Lewis wrote a couple days ago. He was talking about how Christ wants to make you a completely new person, but he needs to remove the old person to bring that in. I feel like sometimes when even in the church we build an expectation that you're going to get the new self, but we don't talk about the removal of the old self.

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Which is often really difficult. So thank you for sharing that because like I know I've had points even, I'm sure everyone has had points where it feels like really it's like, Lord, why are you like almost like hurting me in this way?

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and it feels like it's incorrect or it's wrong. It's like, Lord, you've got me on the wrong path. You just do. But he's always got something so good in store. I feel like that's given me a lot of hope.

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I'm also curious, how does what you're doing now like help these men and women who are still in the industry? And also, how can someone who's in the church really like be a loving example to anyone who might be coming in from these sort of areas of life?

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I think that was the first challenge as well, like stepping into my church. Like they never showed me judgment and they were, you know, covering me in prayer and they were trying to help me. But I felt really out of place because I didn't come from that same type of background. I felt like, you know, what if they're judging me for my past and what if it catches up with me and, you know...

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especially with the court thing, I was like, they're all going to think I'm this awful person. Like, this is hard. I think the church, you know, it's all about that we all suffer with things, even if it's in silence. So as the Bible says, if anyone proclaims to be perfect, then that's a lie because we are all struggling with something behind closed doors. But coming together as the body and, you know, confessing things to one another, there's so much freedom in that. Like, if I'm struggling with anything now,

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And I can openly share that to people. It's a burden that's lifted off me. And I think that's what I'm trying to bring with women, that we can be open and vulnerable with each other, even if, you know, it might not be good, exactly what you're going through or suffering with, but I'm not here to judge you, I'm here to help you. I'm not above you, I'm not below you, I'm walking by your sides.

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And ultimately it's not my job to condemn them and, and, you know, try and change them. That's between them and God. The role that I need to play is just being a loving friend to them and a loving person and showing exactly who Jesus was, which is that.

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You know, I think it takes a while for conviction to come in a lot of different ways for a lot of different people. What I might get conviction from, maybe somebody else might not. And that's their own personal relationship with God. So I think that that's important as well. You know, some people might not have ever experienced these types of lives either. So how could they possibly understand what's involved around addiction or addiction?

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you know, pornography use if they've never actually been in the midst of that and actually experienced it. So I think that it's important as well to, you know, have, which is why I love that so much of the youth are coming up now as well, because people from all different walks of life now are finding Jesus, which,

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is incredible people that you would never expect to you know whether it be people in witchcraft or the only fans community or anything else and that's great because we're all giving glory to him and it's proof that it doesn't matter where you come from in life that we can all be used and we can all you know we all have

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the chance to be redeemed and to change and i think that's the good news right that's the good news that yeah thank you so much for just being so vulnerable actually about your story um and it is amazing to see like what god is doing in your life and even we were speaking before we were filming and even just how people are close to you encountering jesus and prayers are being answered and miracles are happening like

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It is just, it's just such an encouragement. But I would love to speak a little bit about the porn industry and OnlyFans. And I guess, what do you think of people's main misconceptions around that from your experience? Yeah.

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I think that people see it as like freedom and empowerment when it's actually not. It's the opposite. So a lot of in today's culture now, it's glorified and promoted in a way that, you know, you'll be successful. You'll be financially free, not actually understanding that spiritually what that really is doing to the person and the bondage it's creating on them, women and men. What do you, sorry, what do you mean by that? Like when you talk about bondage?

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like traps, you know, because you're also allowing these things into your life. And I think that's what society doesn't really understand, which is so sad because young girls think that it's going to bring them this really good life or, you know, what is the cost of gaining the whole world but losing part of your soul or losing your soul, you know? You're going to feel more empty. You've got to live with that. You know, your content's going to be out there. I was speaking to a girl today. He reached out to me and, well, she has autism and she was...

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really used by these platforms in such a malicious awful way and it really truly broke my heart like when I was hearing her messages I was so upset by it and she was making as little as 80 pounds a month and she had some likes of agencies taking 50% from it even more and that's someone that's

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for that little of a money, I wasn't even, you know, able to get a food for the month. And young girls think that it's going to change the life overnight and it's going to, and even if it was to change your life overnight, like it did with me, I had a big house. I had, you know, everything nice and all the new designer stuff. I was still broken and empty inside. I didn't like looking at myself in the mirror. I felt shame. I didn't want to walk the streets.

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You know, people think that these expensive things or this lifestyle will bring you happiness. But that's all a portray that people put online because really behind closed doors, when the cameras stop rolling and you've got to sit with your own thoughts, it's a really hard place to be at. Wow.

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It's interesting like hearing from your perspective when you're talking about like it almost went away just as quickly as it came in. Is that a common experience as well for people in the industry or is it sustainable in any way?

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The problem that I had is with all of this money, whenever I'd try and maybe break out the industry, I'd invest the money into something that would collapse and fail. I'd have to go back to OnlyFans to get that type of money again. So OnlyFans can, if you have a platform, can offer you maybe finances that you, people say, well, I don't want to work all them hours in the day now when I can just go and do this online and get the same amount of money, if not 10 times more, right?

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um so that's what we're dealing with the society nobody really wants to work and everyone wants just easy income right and you know of course because we live on social media exists right so we're constantly comparing our lives to other people and thinking oh their life looks good i want that um but again it's like social media is not real and we're constantly comparing our life to these things and

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experiencing it and eventually it will fall like it's not sustainable unless you are investing it into all of these things you're going to find it hard to break away from it because there's very few industries that will give you them finances you know and most of us have come from a lot of similar backgrounds just to myself because I know a lot of the women so you don't really have degrees or anything like that to step back into it's all I ever really known was exposing my body and

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exploiting myself from a young age so it was hard to kind of think well what else am I supposed to do you know that's the trap that we lead ourself into especially when young girls get involved in it because then it's hard to break away because it's all you know and I guess what you have chosen to do is actually very counter-cultural like it's against what the the world is saying is well in the same way you looked up and seeing you thought it was empowering and that's what you wanted to do from a young age and I think there's probably still young girls that are looking at

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up at people doing this and being like, oh, that's empowering. Like maybe that's something I want to do. But what you've chosen is actually very countercultury, counterculture. And I guess almost goes against what you originally, um, desired. So I guess two questions, what would you say to like the, the young girls that are now looking up? Like, what would you say? Let's start with that. What would you say to those like young girls that are looking up at that lifestyle and going, oh, I think that, that seems empowering. That seems like, what, what would you say to them?

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I would say that you are enough the way that you are and that you are loved beyond measure and that you are worth so much more than a subscription fee and that you were paid for for a price that you can't be bought. You've already, you know, you've already been paid for by the highest God and he offers you freedom and he offers you love and grace and that you will find...

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You will be tempted by things of this world, but it will never fulfill you. You might gain it for a short period, but you won't be fulfilled. So don't try and look at all these girls or men that have all this success or seems to be a success or that you want to do it because you deserve more than to be exploited. And you deserve more, you are worth more than that. And today's society says that we should be doing things like that, exposing ourself or dressing them ways.

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But really, you're worth more than that. You really are worth more than that. And you can have a really beautiful life, a really life of hope and peace and love that will only bring darkness and sadness into your life in so many ways, no matter what anybody tells you from someone that's lived it in a way that, you know, was a success in that industry. It's really not worth it. Yeah.

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What was your second question? My second question. I don't know if you're still like connected with people that are like still in that industry. But I guess like what's what's their response been to like you choosing a countercultural way? Well, I don't really have any friends from that industry anymore because I actually don't really get a positive attitude.

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result online for what I speak about now um I'm not really supported by you know a vast amount of people and that's because one people think how can you go from that to this and then also how can you have this opinion on them things now when you've done that and that's like you know people won't support that because it brings conviction into them as well so when they see my stuff they are

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feel convicted by the things that maybe they're still doing, but I'm not here to bring them conviction or judgment at all. I'm truly here to share it from a place of like vulnerability. Like, you know, it also makes me cringe when I have to live these moments back through. And I look at that person and think, wow, that is,

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How did I even end up there? Like, how was I that person when I really think differently now? My morals are differently. The way, what I aspire to be, who I am as a person, how I look at people, how I look at myself. It's also vastly different that I can't comprehend the person that I was back then. Mm-hmm.

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So I think I just, I don't get support, but I have to just keep being reminded that like what I'm doing here isn't to please people. It's here to share the truth of actually what God can do and what God's grace can do in people's lives. And that I'm true representation of the...

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you know, again, we're never too far gone. It doesn't matter what background you've got or where you've come from. Like you too have also been given the chance to start a new life and be a new creation. And it's completely possible because I'm proof of that and striving towards that still. I'm definitely not perfect. But he's with me and he's walking with me and he's revealing new things to me every day. So I just need to keep my eyes on that, even if I might not be supported, you know, by friends or family.

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I've got him, so I'm good. Have you found a church community now? Yes. And have they come around you to support you? Yes, I'm very lucky. I've got an amazing church community. They're literally like my family. We have like a home group on a Tuesday. So we just gather in like a house and we do some Bible studies and have tea and cake. And then on a Thursday, we have Bible studies in the church. And then we also obviously have Sunday service as well, which is with Sunday school for my daughter and stuff. Yeah.

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I'm with them quite a lot. And I'm currently going through meetings with them at the moment as well to be involved in the ministry, which is obscene because I would never have thought that years ago. It's like, what? Even if you tell me, like, that's so crazy. But, yeah, it's a recovery. So I'm going through the recovery process right now. So I hope then, you know, the final act of recovery is to then go out and help other people that are suffering with the same thing. So...

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Yeah. And that's a recovery from pain, trauma, hangups. And yeah, that's been amazing. We actually got a lady from America who flew over and this, this happened when I needed it the most. God always knows when you need something. I was feeling really down, really discouraged. You know, a lot of shame was creeping back in and we walk.

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And this lady came over and she was teaching us this recovery program. And she was previously a stripper and she was a pastor of a church now. And she had a very similar background to me. She handed me a book and it was called Stripped. I read that book within one night. I stayed up the whole night. I was like, this is obscene how much it was like so similar to my life.

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And that just really encouraged me to see her and how far she's come and the change that's happened within her. I looked at her and thought, well, one day when I'm older, I'm going to be in a similar position to you and I'm going to be able to help other people how you're now helping me.

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And that was real encouragement. And yeah, I just feel like being, being around other believers, but people who also have similar testimonies to me encourages me. Cause at one point I was like, I'm not going to be accepted for the past that I've lived, you know, but I was so wrong because I am accepted by my church. I'm accepted by people who truly have a relationship with Jesus because they know the truth of that.

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And it's nice to just come together and all just like be a testimony of like the glory and the grace that he has, no matter what background. He's good. He's so good. So what do you think is like next for you? Like, what do you think that mission is going to look like?

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I hope that with House of Faith that I'm forming, that I can just really, I aspire to be on the streets like where the women are really suffering. Those who don't know Jesus, those that may be still stuck in sex work or adult work or domestic abuse relationships and they don't have a way out, they haven't heard the gospel yet. I want to be in them places because I want to really help them rawly and share my testimony and...

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Also give them opportunities to break free from that. I hope that that's what this ministry can do. Give them an opportunity to break free from the industry, but also equip them because we need to be equipped with the things to stay out of them industries. It's not just an overnight change. So I just pray that he continues to give me the wisdom and the knowledge to do that. And also puts me in the right places to actually meet these ladies and,

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I prayed over a lady on the street the other week. And two days later, she was in the same meeting as me. There was only three ladies in that room and she was one of them. And she was homeless. So what was the chances of her from being on the street to them being in one of these meetings? And it was just incredible. She gave me a bracelet and called me an angel and was just like, thank you for everything that you said to me. Because it was proof to me in that moment that God, you're calling her. And that you're doing something in her life. Because...

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I continued to share what he did for me and how we lived similar backgrounds in some type of way. So being with them women, you know, like not people that are already know Jesus. It's great to be in them rooms, to be uplifted and to share, have a community a hundred percent. But I want to, I want to help the women that don't yet know him and that are still stuck in these dark places and help, hopefully shed some light on that and be who Jesus was, a characteristic of who he was and share that in their life.

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I think it's just so clear of how much God's using you. I think it's amazing of what you were saying earlier about, like, God will use our lives. Like, none of it's, like, wasted. He will, like, bring that back for his glory. And I think I just feel so encouraged that it's, like, it is all the little details which you then, God is using, like, your story to then reach other people to bring him to you. And I think that's just so...

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So beautiful. I'm like excited to see what's going to happen. Do you know what I mean? Like, I'm like, I think this could grow. You said it was called House of Faith. Yes. Yeah, that you're like building. I think it's so exciting to see where that grows. And I think even like our church does a few ministries that are like along the same kind of vein. And it's like the stories that they have and like God is moving in those places. Like there's so much like hidden unseen stuff where actually God sees it and he's wanting to break through and he is. So I just feel I feel really encouraged.

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Yeah, Katie, thank you so much for jumping on with us. I'm so, so encouraged by your story. And I genuinely do just feel like you are someone that Jesus would have just loved to hang out with in person. And guys, I hope you, all you who are listening or watching back home, I hope you've been really, really encouraged by this. And I also want to encourage you, if you want to kind of like...

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learn more about this industry or someone who's been in it. We've actually done a podcast with someone named Victoria Sinis, and that'll be linked in the description. It'll be on screen at the end of this video, but you can always just go and look back through the previous podcast episodes and check that out. And you can hear another perspective on all of this stuff.

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But guys, keep pursuing the Lord. And if you're listening to this and you don't really have a relationship with Jesus or you haven't started on a journey, I encourage you, go get a Bible or go chat to someone you know who's a Christian and just ask some questions. Just start to ask some questions. And we know the Lord is pursuing you. Thank you so much for joining us. Wait. What? Katie, what's your favorite emoji that they can leave in the comments? I almost forgot.

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My favorite emoji. Yeah. It's got to be a heart. A heart. A heart. A little bit of a waist. Drop a heart in the comments and we will see you soon. Love you guys. Bye. Bye.
