Planetshakers' Michael Guglielmucci admits porn addiction, faking cancer

The Planetshakers City Church in Melbourne, Australia has seen incredible growth since it founded in 2004, believing, as their website says that "God has the power to transform and revolutionise the lives of all people, propelling them into their God-given destiny." Their services draw thousands. The Planetshakers Band tours internationally, to places like Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and South Africa, and has released several albums.

And until recently, Michael Guglielmucci was a pastor at the church and part of the Planetshakers band, inspiring his followers, many of them young people, with his brave two-year battle with terminal leukemia.

On August 12, Guglielmucci admitted that he's been faking the illness, fooling not only his congregation, but his parents and his own wife.

What drove Guglielmucci to the deception? An obsession with pornography, that started when he was 12 years old.

This was no amateur attempt at faking. This was a man leading a very convincing double life.

Australia's Herald Sun reports,"The deception included conducting performances with an oxygen tube in his nose and telling audiences he had broken bones and other unexplained symptoms."

Michael's father, Daniel Guglielmucci, realeased a statement in which he says an accident in 2006 that put Michael in the hospital apparently gave him the idea to fake cancer. He said that he, his wife and Michael's wife had no idea he was faking, and had watched Michael suffer what would have been normal reactions to cancer treatments, including nose bleeds and losing his hair in clumps. Mr. Guglielmucci is a founder of Edge Church International, at Reynella in Adelaide.

Michael Guglielmucci has said that the guilt and shame he suffered over his addiction manifested itself in physical symptoms. He has offered to return any monies that people have donated to him to cover his medical "treatments" and is currently receiving psychiatric care.