‘13 Going On 30’ Star Christa B. Allen Launches Raw New Podcast

Actress and creator Christa B. Allen, greatest identified for “13 Going on 30” and “Revenge,” is entering into a wholly new position of religious storyteller. The star is teaming up with author and inventive producer Victoria Daniel for a brand new enterprise, “The Praydate Podcast,” launching right this moment, November 11, solely revealing particulars to The Blast. Set on the crossroads of popular culture, spirituality, and self-growth, “The Praydate” guarantees to be a uncooked, unfiltered house “the place prayer meets actual life.” Every episode opens with a prayer earlier than diving into deep, fashionable paradoxes, from sexual disgrace and singleness to ego, self-worth, and the messy intersection between religion and humanity.

In an unique dialog with The Blast, Allen described “The Praydate” as a spot for anybody “to affix collectively on their stroll with God, Supply, the Universe, no matter this vitality is to you.”

“I’ve accomplished many issues on this life,” she defined, “and it at all times got here again to God for me. Nothing else feels necessary when stacked in opposition to the urgency of creating and cultivating a relationship with God. Victoria and I aligned on this utterly and determined we could not wait to create this house collectively.”

The launch date is not random. “The Praydate” debuts on 11/11, a quantity steeped in religious which means and synchronicity. For Allen, it carries even deeper significance.

“It was completely intentional to launch on 11/11! It is my birthday, so it has at all times held a particular which means for me past the angel numbers on the clock,” she mentioned. “Once I met Victoria and came upon they had been her fortunate numbers too, it shortly turned the plain selection for the launch date.”

Allen and Daniel’s early episodes set the tone for what they name “open-hearted, uncomfortable conversations.” In “On Disgrace: The Attractive Skeletons in My Closet,” Allen confronts taboo matters with fearless honesty.

“Disgrace is instantly subtle whenever you share it,” she mentioned. “It solely holds energy when it is saved secret. Disgrace is the very mechanism that permits techniques of energy to maintain folks feeling small, subordinate, powerless, particularly in the case of magnificence and sexuality.”

One other episode, “You are Single As a result of You Wish to Be,” reimagines solitude as religious energy. “Singleness permits you house to get clear on who you actually are,” Allen defined, “so you too can get clear on exactly the partnership you’d wish to name in.”

As fashionable audiences transfer away from conventional self-help content material and towards extra private explorations of religion, Allen believes “The Praydate” fills a rising cultural want.

“In our conversations with pals, we discovered that we weren’t alone on this feeling that we respect and respect beliefs and rituals from so many religions,” she advised The Blast. “Humanity is prepared for a extra all-encompassing, unifying perspective on spirituality. In any case, none are excluded from the limitless love of the Most Excessive.”

For Allen, prayer is not a checkbox, nevertheless it’s a way of life. “The concept is that all the things you do could be devotional,” she mentioned. “We needed to point out that your complete life could be lived in devotion, not simply the 5 minutes you put aside to hope.”

A seasoned actor and content material creator, Allen has spent years navigating the pressures of social media, and she or he’s not proof against burnout. “I’ve confronted crippling burnout myself,” she admitted. “In these moments, I embraced the silence. I embraced stillness. I embraced the struggling… as a result of in it are the dear classes that can carry you thru the following chapter of your life.”

That steadiness of honesty and hope is what units “The Praydate” aside. “We consider ‘Praydate’ much less as a efficiency and extra like companionship,” Allen mentioned, quoting religious instructor Ram Dass, “We’re all simply strolling one another residence.”