Ex-Hillsong Pastor Carl Lentz's Wife 'Freaked Out' After Finding Him in 'Compromising Position' with Nanny

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"Something came over me," Laura Lentz says in an episode of FX's The Secrets of Hillsong, premiering Friday

FX Laura Lentz
FX Laura Lentz

Laura Lentz, wife of ex-Hillsong pastor Carl Lentz, once had a physical altercation with her husband and their nanny after catching them in a "compromising position," she says in a new documentary series.

FX's The Secrets of Hillsong, which chronicles the scandals of the famous megachurch, features the first interviews with the couple since they were forced out of the church in 2020 for Carl's "moral failures," with the former pastor later admitting to infidelity.

In the series' second episode, which airs Friday, Laura revealed her shock upon first learning from her husband that he'd been unfaithful. "It was Oct. 25 [2020], I remember that day. Carl was like, 'Hey, can I talk to you for a second?' As soon as he shut the door…my heart just dropped," she recalled. "He basically said, 'I've been unfaithful to you.'"

Related:Ex-Hillsong Pastor Carl Lentz Talks 'Healing' from Cheating Scandal as He and Wife Mark 20th Anniversary

On a Zoom call with the couple, board members and founder Brian Houston, who went on to resign in 2022 amid complaints that he behaved inappropriately towards two women, questioned Carl, now 44, about his relationship with the Lentz family's nanny, Leona Kimes, also a church member.

"They asked Carl about Leona," Laura said in the episode. "He hadn't told me this part yet."

FX Laura Lentz
FX Laura Lentz

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Kimes had been a trusted part of the family, and was "always" at the house, Laura said, noting that Kimes was even there on Christmas Day.

Still, Laura said she had suspected something was going on. "I'd sometimes get these little feelings. And then one night I found them in a compromising position," she said. "I ran into the room and I shoved Carl and hit him and then I jumped on top of her and I punched her."

"Something came over me," she said. "I was angry and I definitely freaked out."

Related:Ex-Hillsong Pastor Carl Lentz Admits to 'Inappropriate Relationship' with Nanny: 'I Am Responsible'

Laura said that Kimes denied there was something going on between her and Carl, and that afterwards, they "never talked about it again."

"We were her pastors, we were her leaders; she was on staff. It got really messy," Laura shared. "Instead of talking about it again, I would just stuff it down."

"I was in a really tormented place mentally," she continued. "I don't know what's happening in my house anymore. I was pretty much gaslit by both of them for quite a while."

FX Carl Lentz
FX Carl Lentz

Six months after the firings, Kimes posted an essay on Medium alleging that she was sexually and emotionally abused by the ousted pastor, whom she did not identify by name, which Lentz denied.

When addressing the allegations in the second episode, Carl took responsibility for "allowing an inappropriate relationship to develop in my house with someone that worked for us," but reiterated that "any notion of abuse is categorically false."

"There were mutual adult decisions made by two people who lied profusely, mainly to my wife," he added. "It's an issue because I was a boss, this person was an employee. I'm responsible for that power dynamic and the management of it and the wisdom that goes with it and I failed absolutely miserably."

Related:Ex-Hillsong Pastor Carl Lentz's Wife Laura Breaks Silence on Sex Scandal on Wedding Anniversary

After their exit from Hillsong, though they struggled to move past what had happened, the couple ultimately stayed together and worked through the fallout of Carl's betrayal.

In a social media post shared over a week before the documentary series premeried, Carl shared the couple had recently celebrated their 20th anniversary.

Charley Gallay/Getty Carl Lentz and wife Laura
Charley Gallay/Getty Carl Lentz and wife Laura

"For the last 3 years my entire focus has been fighting for my wife and my kids," he wrote. "All I wanted was to prove to my wife and kids that I could show up for them like I had never done before. Although we have a long way to go, with a lot of work, a lot of honesty and a lot of prayer, we have found ourselves in a beautiful, happy and deliberately honest place."

The Secrets of Hillsong episodes 1-2 air Friday on FX and will be available to stream on Hulu Saturday. Episodes 3-4 will drop on May 26.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

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