The nun who won Italy’s version of The Voice has announced her shock decision to move to Spain and be a waitress.
In 2014, Sister Crisitina Scuccia wowed judges during her blind audition for the reality show.
Scuccia, who is from Sicily, sang Alica Keys’s hit song “No One”.
After realising that the voice belonged to a nun, one of the judges – the late Raffaella Carrà, who died last year – said: “I couldn’t speak for several minutes.”
Scuccia was a nun at the Ursuline Sisters of the Holy Family convey in Milan at the time.
She went on to win The Voice with her rapturous performance of Irene Cara’s 1983 song “What a Feeling”, the theme song for Flashdance.
Scuccia later produced an album, which included a cover version of Madonna’s hit song “Like a Virgin”. She gave a copy to Pope Francis.
On Sunday (20 November), as per The Guardian, Scuccia appeared on the Italian talk show Verissimo to announce that she had left the nunhood.
The singer was dressed in a red trouser suit and high heels during the appearance. She was also sporting a nose piercing and wore her long dark hair loose.
“I believe that you need to listen to your heart with courage. Change is a sign of evolution, but it is always scary because it is easier to anchor oneself to one’s certainties rather than questioning oneself. Is there a right or wrong?” she said.
Scuccia continued to explain that leaving the nunhood was a decision that a psychologist helped her to process, stating that she now lives “with a smile” in Spain, where she works as a waitress.
She said that her exit did not mean she had renounced her faith, and that she is still pursuing a career in music.
She said: “I chose to follow my heart without thinking about what people would say about me.
“I took a leap of faith and was worried about ending up under a bridge, I always repeated this to my psychologist.”
While Scuccia’s success on The Voice was supported by her mother superior, a nun who is in charge of the other nuns in a convent, more traditional factions of the Italian Catholic church were critical of her decision.
Her choice to record “Like a Virgin” was described by Italy’s Religious Information Service as “a reckless and calculated commercial operation”.
