Nadia Hilton: Pornstar Turned . . . Pastor?
As far as career changes go, this one qualifies as a true 180. Crystal Bassette earned her widest exposure (quite literally) as adult star Nadia Hilton from 2005 to 2014. She has now left her XXX past behind for a career that couldn’t be more different — a pastor in a newly founded church.
Like many, Hilton got into porn for the financial rewards, hoping to provide a better and more comfortable life for her son. “We grew up poor, very poor,” Hilton told ABC News. “I wanted to give him all the things. I didn’t have a snowmobile. I didn’t have four-wheelers. I didn’t have any of that stuff as a kid.” After working as an exotic dancer for a time, Hilton was discovered by a talent agent who convinced her to give porn a try. Her first shoot was nerve wracking: “I remember talking to a guy, and he’s, like, ‘You don’t look like you really want to do this,’ and I was, like, ‘I don’t know.’ I was so nervous.”
Nevertheless, Hilton found success in the adult industry, with a filmography of more than 100 titles on Adult Empire. “I quickly got sucked into it,” she said. “You’re making more and more money, and you’re spending more money.” Eventually, she met husband-to-be David Bassette, a pastor who wasn’t bothered by her career. “I like the fact that she was independent, and very strong, and unfortunately, probably hard to control,” he said. “And I liked that. So I was up for a challenge, I guess.” Not long after, she decided to switch gears, leaving behind her porn career for a job as a legal assistant and later as a pastor.
The couple was forced to found their own church when more traditional denominations were put off by Hilton’s XXX past. “With us … there was no judgment on people,” she said. “People felt free. It didn’t matter if you came through the doors with full body piercings and tattoos and stuff. We didn’t judge them. Everybody’s got a past.” The Lord works in mysterious ways!
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