Telling her story. Leah Remini has been an outspoken critic of the Church of Scientology since she left the controversial religion in 2013.

The actress was brought into the church as an 8-year-old after her mother converted. During a 2015 20/20 interview, Remini talked about her experience growing up as a Scientologist.

“The mission is to save the planet and because Scientologists view children as spiritual beings, you’re not treated as a kid. You’re given a lot of responsibility, and so your ego becomes extremely inflated,” the King of Queens alum claimed to ABC News’ Dan Harris at the time.

Remini’s decision to leave Scientology ultimately came down to her then-9-year-old daughter, Sofia. “She was getting to the age where the acclimations into the church would have to start,” the Old School actress told BuzzFeed in 2014, adding that she didn’t want to repeat her own mother’s mistakes.

“I grew up resenting my mother because she was never home. My mom thought she was doing something good; she thought she was helping the planet. That’s what the church tells you,” Remini explained. “I was saying ‘family first,’ but I wasn’t showing that. I didn’t like the message that sent my daughter.”

The New York native has never shied away from speaking publicly about her history with Scientology. In 2015, the organization fired back.

“Given Leah Remini’s insatiable desire for attention, it comes as no surprise that for two years she has been incapable of moving on with her life and remains obsessed with shamelessly exploiting her former religion in a pathetic attempt to get publicity,” a spokesperson for the Church of Scientology told Us Weekly at the time.

Despite the backlash, the Handsome actress didn’t stop talking about her experience. She penned a 2015 memoir titled Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology and produced the A&E docuseries Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath.

When the Emmy-winning series concluded in 2019 after three seasons, the Church of Scientology released a statement to Us denouncing the content. “Finally, A&E pulled the plug on Leah Remini’s hate machine,” the statement read, claiming the show was full of “lies, distortions and exhortations to hate and bigotry.”

Although Remini told The Hollywood Reporter in 2019 that she wasn’t sure if making the docuseries helped her heal, she does feel a responsibility to speak out about her experiences — and about other members of the religion. When Laura Prepon left Scientology in 2021 without much fanfare, Remini was critical of how the That ‘70s Show alum handled her exit.

“For those of us who were in the public eye and who were speaking on behalf of Scientology, getting people into Scientology, I feel that we have a responsibility to do the work when we find out that none of those things we were doing was not only [not] helpful, but damaging and very harmful to people’s lives,” the “Scientology: Fair Game” podcaster said during a September 2021 interview with Daily Blast Live.

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Scroll through for a timeline of Remini’s battle with the Church of Scientology over the years:

Leah Remini is proudly furthering her education after leaving the Church of Scientology in 2013.

“Two years ago, I had an eighth-grade education thanks to spending 35 years in a cult,” the King of Queens alum wrote via Instagram on Friday, June 2. “And now, at age 52, I’ve successfully finished my second year at NYU.”

Remini — who has long been outspoken against the church and its controversial teachings — added: “Undertaking this educational journey has been one of the most difficult experiences of my life. There have been days where I’ve thought about giving up. While I’m still not finished, I’m so glad I decided to dive in.”

She concluded the post with a hopeful message to her 3.6 million followers: “If you have the desire and the capacity, please remember that it’s never too late to start again.”

The two-time Emmy winner’s celeb pals were quick to congratulate her in the comments.

“Love you, babycakes,” Chelsea Handler wrote. “Proud of u always,” shared Rosie O’Donnell.

The former Scientology and the Aftermath host previously claimed the church stifled her education after eighth grade.

“Scientologists are taught that kids are no different from adults. So from a very young age I was held accountable like an adult and regularly told that anything bad that happened in my life, even things that I wasn’t responsible for, was my fault,” Remini wrote in a lengthy Twitter thread she shared in January 2022. “Even though I was just 16 at the time, I hadn’t received any sort of formal education for years. Instead, I had been working for years so that I could support myself and my family. For the last 38 years of my life, I have been living and working with an 8th grade education.”

The Exes alum continued: “L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, had a deep disdain for conventional education and since everything in Scientology is guided directly by his policies, with no room for interpretation, my education was interrupted.”

Though Remini was a teen at the time, she broke into acting in order to help save her family from financial ruin — and to be looked upon favorably in the Scientology community.

“I saw a successful acting career as a salvation. It would help me get my family out of poverty and give me a higher standing in Scientology which I truly believed was helping to save mankind,” she tweeted. “At the time, we were living in squalor with no furniture. Every spare cent we had went to Scientology for mandatory courses, sessions, and treatments. I was determined to get my family into better circumstances.”

Reflecting on her decision to enroll at New York University in her 50s, Remini wrote, “Had you told me then that I would be a student at NYU at age 51, I wouldn’t have believed it. I had big dreams back then but when I look back they were rooted in my desire to survive … I couldn’t have imagined a world in which I would be a university student at my age.”

As the New York native continues her own education, her 18-year-old daughter, Sofia, is in college as well.

“Long story … but, one of the things I’ve learned in life is that there is always time to course correct. There’s no sense in sticking to something that doesn’t work for you. In any situation. At any point in your life,” Remini, who shares Sofia with husband Angelo Pagan, wrote via Instagram in February about their daughter’s educational journey. “In August, our daughter Sofia enrolled in a college she thought was meant for her. I moved her into a dorm room and came home heartbroken to a quiet house.”

When Sofia’s first-choice university “didn’t make sense for her,” the teen left and moved back home with her parents before transferring schools. While Remini had already gone through moving her only child out of the house — and was proud of her for pursuing her educational pursuits — she didn’t expect the second go of it to hit her so hard.

“Crying, not knowing what to do with ourselves now other than looking at pictures and videos and crying some more,” the Kevin Can Wait alum shared in her Instagram post.

Keeping up with the Dillards! Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard’s romance has captivated audiences for years, beginning with their whirlwind courtship.

The 19 Kids and Counting alum, who is the fourth child of Jim Bob Duggar and Michelle Duggar, found her future husband through her father, making their road to marriage somewhat seamless.

The duo’s courtship began in 2013, after Dillard had become close with Jim Bob during his two-year mission to Nepal. “Being that we had similar life goals, she caught my attention,” Dillard wrote via the couple’s wedding website in 2014, noting he spoke with her on the phone once before she came to visit him in Nepal alongside her dad.

“The more I spent time with him and observed his integrity, sweet spirit and love for God and service to others, the more I fell in love with him,” Jill explained on the duo’s website, noting that her trip to see him shifted their relationship and officially started their courtship.

Once Dillard returned to the U.S. in 2014, the pair’s romance heated up and the attorney proposed in March of that year.

“We’re just really trying to keep our relationship focused not on the physical but really just more on communication and continuing to learn more about each other,” Jill told ABC after their engagement. “We’re saving our first kiss and things beyond that for our wedding.”

Several weeks before tying the knot in June 2014, Jill expressed how glad she was “to be engaged to the most awesome guy in the world” via Twitter.

The couple have since welcomed three sons, Israel, Samuel and Frederick, and been vocal about how they keep their romance alive.

“Sex is a super important part of marriage, but it’s also important to prioritize fun and intimacy that leads to a healthy marriage, including a healthy sex life,” the Counting On alum said of her relationship with her husband during a February 2021 YouTube video, in which they described how they talk to their kids about sex.

The pair then explained in kid-friendly terms that babies get born after their parents have a “date” and then they start growing “inside of mommy’s tummy.” In the clip, Jill chimed in, saying the duo had “a bunch of dates” before becoming parents. Dillard cheekily replied, “We did have four dates in one day, I think, that one time.” Jill added, “Hey, we have a good sex life.”

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Scroll down to relive Jill and Dillard’s relationship highs and lows: