SAVE the DATE: SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 AT 9:00 PM ET/PT ON OWN
An all-new season of OWN’s award-winning self-help series, “Iyanla: Fix My Life,” begins with an emotional three-part, multi-week episode focusing on the coming out stories of two gay pastors. With the help of spiritual life coach, Iyanla Vanzant, both men take bold steps towards confessing their truth after years of keeping their sexuality a secret from those closest to them. “Iyanla: Fix My Life” returns on Saturday, September 19 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.
In eight new one-hour episodes of her popular OWN series, “Iyanla: Fix My Life,” Iyanla continues her work with those who are facing life’s most difficult struggles-guiding them toward a new way of living and encouraging them to do the work necessary for real change.
In this season’s groundbreaking three-part season premiere, Iyanla travels to Louisville, Kentucky to help two pastors whose true identities as gay men have been shrouded by years of lies, secrets and deception. The time has come for both to be true to themselves, while taking the very difficult step of coming out to those closest to them, including their families, a wife in denial and even an entire congregation.
Pastor Derek confides that he has spent years hiding his identity as a gay man. His family has shown open hostility toward gay people and he lives in fear of what would happen if his true identity was revealed to his family and his parishioners. Iyanla works to help Derek understand that his pain will continue to devour him until he faces his greatest fears and helps him prepare him for the huge step of coming out to his family and church.
Iyanla also helps Pastor Mitchell, who realized his same-sex attraction early, but buried those feelings after being told his desires were wrong. Fear and guilt drove Mitchell into the church where he spent years preaching against homosexuality. After marrying and fathering children, he began a string of affairs with other men-eventually telling his wife that he needed to embrace his gay identity, but never confessing his numerous infidelities. Iyanla’s real challenge is to help Mitchell understand that the only way to move forward and to undo the pain is to make a full confession and to live his life honestly from now on.
