What Is the Controversy Surrounding Pastor Melissa Scott’s Marriage to Gene Scott?
In addition to being 40 years his junior, televangelist Gene Scottﾒs third wife Melissa was formerly an adult entertainer by the name of Barbie Bridges. According to Marie Claire, Melissa Paulina Peroff was a frequent guest at Scottﾒs California ranch, where he often entertained Penthouse Pets and Playboy Bunnies.
Pastor Gene Scott was no stranger to controversy. A nationally-televised evangelist and recognized scholar in Aramaic and Hebrew, Scott swore freely on camera while quoting scripture, preached on alien conspiracies and UFOs, and showed his own videos of scantily-clad ﾓpony girls,ﾔ filmed while riding Scottﾒs prized stallions.
At the infamous pony parties during the mid-1990s, Melissa Scott often danced topless for her future husband. Working then as Barbie Bridges, Melissa Scott had already earned the title Miss Nude CanAm Exotic, had been photographed by Suze Randall and posed for a Penthouse spread photographed by Earl Miller. Her ex-husband Paul Pastore had started Barbie Bridges Enterprises.
In 1998, Scott ordained Melissa as his administrative pastor and confirmed that the two were dating seriously. A month after they wed in 2000, Scott was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Upon his death in 2005, Melissa Scott inherited Gene Scottﾒs entire multimillion-dollar estate, which includes mansions, a car collection, horse ranches, a private plane and his church.
