‘American Idol’ star Jason Castro speaks out against pornography in ‘I Am Second’ video, crediting Jesus Christ for breaking addiction
While fans watched American Idol launch the music career of Jason Castro, his pornography addiction nearly cost him his marriage. In a new “I Am Second” video, Castro details the struggle, backsliding towards disaster and credits Jesus Christ for overcoming the addiction.
“It was keeping me depressed,” Castro said. But he couldn’t stop, confessing that he cheated on his fiance Mandy Mayhall, sleeping with a stranger on tour. “It’s just the next step” in the addiction, Castro said in the 12-minute video. “It wasn’t on the computer. It was in real life.”
Castro details that watching pornography on his computer in high school was just the beginning because the privacy of college made it worse.
Mandy ended the engagement, but they managed to reconcile in 2010 and agreed to marry Castro with this one condition:
Jason Castro performing Winter Jam 2013 photo Brandon Jones
If he ever looked at porn, Mandy would divorce him.
Castro said he kept his promise by installing porn-blocking software on his computer.
Then came the smartphone.
“Now, it was easier than ever. Now it was in my pocket, anytime I wanted, anywhere,” he said. It again consumed him. He started everyday with a dose of porn and his wife blamed herself for their problems, but it was the porn.
The truth was revealed during church counseling and Mandy surprised the singer by staying with him, battling through the addiction.
“She understands that it’s a struggle that we have and this struggle might never go away. It’s part of my flesh,” he said, “but I’ve been able to overcome it.”
He gives credit where the credit is due.
“This is the real miracle: that I’m able to have a family right now…to be able to have a better relationship than either of us ever imagined,” he said. “I’m no longer a porn addict.”
“Because of Jesus Christ, I’m a free man,” he said.
Castro soared on charts with his cover of Jeff Buckley’s song “Hallelujah” before “Only a Mountain” landed him big success with Christian Music fans and toured with Newsong on their Winter Jam tour.
Jason Castro singing Winter Jam 2013 photo Brandon Jones
