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Former Knockouts Champion Taryn Terrell recently spoke to Fox News about her newfound Christianity, shedding light on how the lifestyle may affect her future in wrestling.
Taryn first came forward with her new faith via a YouTube video titled, “The Beginning of My Journey With Christ,” which lead some to speculate that she’s planning to leave wrestling behind.
The Fox News interview, which describes Taryn as a born again Christian, references her time in the WWE as well as her current TNA run. Taryn says she doesn’t blame the WWE or TNA for turning her towards a Christian lifestyle, instead chalking up her decisions to life choices:
“That is something I’m actually struggling with now. You know it certainly wasn’t the fault of WWE or the fault of any other entertainment company that I’ve worked for. It wasn’t the fault of Playboy These were all my decisions and these were, you know, my life choices that I made that were, you know, certainly not of a Christian lifestyle. Like you said, the sexiness and, you know, me essentially being a temptation to men and, you know, that’s sort of the thing I learned that I really want to be a role model. I truly do. I want to be able to help other people get saved just as people helped me to be saved so, you know, that is something I’m struggling with now and realizing that, you know, even in the way that I dress it is important to be Christian. It is important to be more modest and I want to use the ability that I have as performing to connect people. You know, I love to perform. I love to entertain. God gave me those skills to do so and I’ve learned that He put me on this Earth to be able to use that and to reach people, and to bring people near God.”
Expanding on the topic of modesty, Taryn claims that she previously dressed provocatively for the attention it gave her:
“You know, I don’t think that it’s something for me personally. I dressed in a way that I wanted attention, so for me, I’m obviously not speaking for anyone else, for me, I no longer want to dress in a way to gain the attention of men or of anybody, you know. I want people to be able to focus on me as a person and be able to listen to what I say rather than focus on, you know, being provocative or sexy.”
As for the reactions of her wrestling colleagues, Taryn says some have reached out to her with their support:
“You know, it’s been really cool because a couple wrestlers have texted me or reached out by phone and said, you know, they’re Christians as well and they would love to share their journey with me, and talk. And it’s just a really great way not only that I can connect with other wrestlers who have been in the entertainment field which is a very tempting world but you know that helps me mature as a Christian, and get better connections with my peers which gives me a better connection with God.”
Taryn hasn’t made a decision as to whether or not she’ll remain in wrestling, but says she’ll walk away if she can’t find a way to be “godly” in the things she does:
“Absolutely. I think that I have played, and recently, I have played an even more sexy character than I was used to playing, and it’s something that I prayed on and I know that’s not who I want to portray anymore. I know that’s not who I am and it’s not who I want to portray, and how can I connect with people, and sort of live that double standard. And yes, if I cannot find a way to use God and be godly in the things that I do then yes, it is time to walk away.”
Watch video of the interview below:
Read the full interview on FoxNews.com.
