Scandal and gossip chased Desiree Acosta’s years in the entertainment world, until she heard Bro. Eli Soriano, a Filipino televangelist broadcasting the Gospel in Latin America.

Described as a scandalous girl, Desiree Acosta is synonymous to controversy in the showbiz world in 90’s Peru. A sort of a showy, material-girl, she revealed her past to be troublesome where she gave more importance to material things, including vanity.

“Celebrities want to pretend more than they really are. They like to boast … and I have done wickedness,” said Acosta. But all these changed after she heard Bro. Eli Soriano preach the Bible.

When she decided to stop once and for all her disgraceful life, the former sexy star found comfort in reading the Bible and in listening to Bro. Eli Soriano. This and her inspiring testimony was featured by Al Sexto Dia, an evening news and entertainment television-magazine program in Peru.

Through Al Sexto, Acosta also revealed that prior to her decision to change for good she lived a muddled life. Not denying everything she was as a former starlet, she maintains “… they are already part of the past, [but now] I have found the peace I have longed for.”

Acosta did admit that there was no fulfillment in the sinful world where she once walked. And when she began studying the Bible, she realized that it was out of ignorance that she was doing horrible things before becoming a Christian.

She confessed to being a battered child at the age of 12, where her violent childhood not only left physical hurts but also deep emotional wounds to Acosta.

“Physical punishments that were too grave locked me not only at home, but also in my room,” she confessed in the same interview with Al Sexto. “But we found a key to at least leave the room because we had a big house.

When my uncle saw me by the window, he was horrified when he saw my face” which Desiree described “completely disfigured” from the beating she got from her father.

Desiree is now determined to heal and lead a quiet and more meaningful life, away from the one she used to indulge in. Her once-scandalous existence and all the intrigues that hounded her for long have been replaced by a profound interest on spiritual matters.

She is also raising her teenage daughter Yohanna, who describes her as “a very good person and mother, always seeks for the good of others before hers.”