An Italian model and TV presenter has revealed she was part of a cult which stopped her having sex and made her believe she was the sister of Jesus and a born-again Nazi bride.
Michelle Hunziker, 41, was a member of a sect called Warriors of Light for five years from the age of 20.
She was lured to join after meeting the cult leader, a therapist called Clelia, who had cured her Italian singer husband Eros Ramazzotti of a sore throat.
Michelle Hunziker (pictured in Italy last summer), 41, was a member of a sect called Warriors of Light for five years from the age of 20
She was lured to join after meeting the cult leader, a therapist called Clelia who had cured her Italian singer husband Eros Ramazzotti (pictured together in Italy in 1999) of a sore throat
The group would meet at least once a week where they would sit in a circle, with the leader in the middle, and discuss their issues, lie down or meditate. Left: Hunzika in 2015. Right: Her in 2009
The group would meet at least once a week where they would sit in a circle, with the leader in the middle, and discuss their issues, lie down or meditate.
Hunziker said she would call Clelia almost every day because she made her feel ‘special, unique, and important.’
She had to follow a strict vegan diet and abstain from drinking, smoking, sex and masturbation to keep ‘pure.’
Hunziker was banned from eating foods that contained raising agents and told ‘pizza was nothing but a concentration of demonic powers’.
In her new autobiography titled A Seemingly Perfect Life, which has been serialised by Bild, the model shares intimate details of her five years as a member of the Warriors of Light.
Hunziker said she would call cult leader Clelia almost every day because she made her feel ‘special, unique, and important.’ Left: Hunziker at the San Remo Music Festival in February 2018. Right: Hunziker at a gala in Germany in 2018
‘Before the meetings we had to shower and put on white clothes,’ she said. ‘We always had to take off our shoes on the threshold.
‘Then we had to wash our hands again and sit in circles on the sofas or cross-legged on the floor before starting the sessions of lying down or meditating.’
The front cover of the model’s new book
She said she was so obsessed with Clelia that she fell out of touch with family, friends and colleagues, endangering her career.
‘She helped me develop my weak self-esteem, making me feel special, unique, and important. But then she started rejecting me, making me want to go back to her,’ she said.
Talking about the the strict rules of the cult, Hunziker added: ‘According to Clelia, sexuality was an animalistic instinct and therefore dirty and low.
‘We had to lift that instinct to a higher level, sublimate it, and turn it into inner energy.’
She said she was not allowed to even think about sex and abstained from masturbation.
Hunziker, who was born in Switzerland and acquired Italian citizenship when she married, eventually left the cult aged 25 in the same year she split up with Ramazzotti. She said she believes she would have got too ill and died if she stayed.
Last year, she blamed her divorce with Ramazzotti on the cult, saying it tried to convince her was a bad influence on her.
She is now married to fashion heir Tomaso Trussardi and together they have two daughters, Sole, five, and Celeste, three.
She is now married to fashion heir Tomaso Trussardi (pictured together) and together they have two daughters, Sole, five, and Celeste, three
Left: Hunziker at the Green Carpet Fashion Awards Italia, Spring Summer 2018. Right: The model at San Remo Music Festival in February