For a time, she was America's Christian sweetheart, a woman whose televised emoting made millions open their hearts--and their checkbooks. From an early age, the woman the world would eventually come to know as Tammy Faye Bakker knew she wanted to preach the Christian gospel to the world. But as Tammy Faye: E! True Hollywood Story reveals, behind the scenes, her life was not all that it seemed to be...
She met Jim Bakker in college, and together the two of them helped establish Christian broadcasting shows all across the country. They worked for Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network for nine years, toiled with Paul Crouch at the Trinity Broadcasting Network in California and helped found the PTL network, which eventually shot them to national fame.
Nonetheless, things were hardly perfect in the Bakker household. Jim suffered from depression and a relentless drive to grow the business. And, although the public loved to tune in to watch a massively made-up Tammy Faye reduce herself to tears, Jim bit off more than he could chew. People invested in hotels that didn't exist, and Jim kept the money for himself. Oh, and he also had an affair with a church secretary.
But through it all, a divorce, an ongoing battle with cancer and campy attempts at comebacks that included The Surreal Life, a talk show with Jim J. Bullock and the Eyes of Tammy Faye documentary, Tammy Faye has remained a survivor.
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