Brittni De La Mora left the porn industry for relationship with God: 'I didn't want to admit I made a mistake'

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Brittni De La Mora left the porn industry for relationship with God

Brittni De La Mora may not be a name you recognize — but the now-31-year-old spent nearly a decade in the porn industry as the more recognizable Jenna Presley.

Brittni De La Mora may not be a name you recognize — but the now-31-year-old spent nearly a decade in the porn industry as the more recognizable Jenna Presley.

Like many who go on to work in the adult film industry, De La Mora got her start dancing at strip clubs as a way to put herself through college. As she explained to Fox News, "I grew up in a broken household so I really didn't know my value or my worth.

"I discovered early on that if I was naked in the presence of men that I was going to get what I didn't get at home — and that was affirmation," she added.

De La Mora said that after turning 18 she was approached by two men at the strip club she worked at. The men explained they were romance movie producers in Los Angeles and according to Ruiz, they told her, "You're beautiful, you're destined to be a star."

The next day, she met up with them to have her photos taken and sent to an agent.

"From that point forward, I was picked up by a premier agency and I was in the [porn] industry for seven years," she said.

Brittni De La Mora, who then went by Jenna Presley, poses for a photo at the 2006 AVN Adult Entertainment Expo at Sand Expo Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. (Barry Brecheisen/WireImage)

De La Mora said she enjoyed making adult films "for about a month" until she discovered she had contracted a sexually transmitted disease.

"I'd never gotten an STD in my life so I thought from that point on, 'What am I doing in this business?'"

But it was her pride that kept De La Mora from quitting. "I didn't want to admit that I made a mistake so I kept pressing forward," she recalled.

De La Mora's life then took a dark turn as she started abusing drugs like cocaine and heroin to cope.

"I just reached a breaking point at my three-year mark [in porn]," she said. De La Mora quit the industry and began attending church with her grandfather, where she said she met "Jesus as my Lord and Savior."

But "another man" came into De La Mora's life "who turned out to be a pimp," so she returned to porn for an additional three-and-a-half years.

While De La Mora was dating the man she called her pimp, she began to slowly develop her relationship with God through reading the Bible. Until finally, one day she "felt this strong urge" to turn her life around.

Brittni De La Mora, also known as Jenna Presley, left the adult film industry after seven years. (Getty/Courtesy Brittni De La Mora )

"I went to go film a porn scene in Las Vegas and brought my Bible with me on the airplane and I was reading scripture," De La Mora told us. "At which point I really felt that [God was telling me], 'Brittni, this isn't the life that I have for you...know that I have something so much greater in store for you but I need you to give me a step of faith today. I need you to quit the industry and I promise you, your life is going to turn around.'

"So I quit the industry that day and I've been out since December 2012."

Fast-forward, and De La Mora is now married to a pastor named Richard. The pair has penned a two-part book called "Fire and Fresh" to help couples navigate their relationships when they have "lost the excitement."

"My husband and I believe the greatest relationship is the relationship with God and with each other," she shared. "If those relationships are on fire, everything else will be on fire."

Brittni De La Mora and her husband Richard wrote a book to help couples navigate their relationships with each other and God. (Courtesy Brittni De La Mora)

De La Mora also wants to send a message to women who are considering adult film.

"I would just really encourage them to not think about the now because I always lived by what was going to make me happy in the moment and I never ever considered the future," she warned. "And if you really think about the future, do you want to deal with the repercussions of having your sexual acts all over the Internet for the rest of your life?

"People ask me all the time, 'You're a preacher, why is your porn still on the Internet?' Well, I don't have control over any of that. I can't get that stuff removed [because] I signed my rights away when I signed my contracts."

De La Mora does worry about having to explain her porn past to her future children, something she says should also scare off women who are contemplating porn.

"What about your children? Do you want them to have to go through the possible embarrassment when their friends may tease them in school?"

She said that in the end, "whatever you're searching for in the industry, you're not going to find it." Instead, she said she found the "affirmation" she was looking for in God.

"He will fulfill your heart's desire, he will fulfill the longing in your soul, he will heal your broken heart and no amount of money can buy that."

Faith & Fame is a regular column exploring how a strong belief system helps some performers navigate the pitfalls of the entertainment industry.