David Archuleta’s Mormon Story | Ep. 2114
Mormon Stories Podcast
Dr. John Dehlin
4.5 • 5.7K Ratings
🗓️ 17 February 2026
⏱️ 126 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this powerful and deeply personal episode, we sit down with David Archuleta to discuss his new memoir, Devout: Losing My Faith to Find Myself. David opens up about his life inside of Mormonism, his rise to fame on American Idol, his mission, his relationship with Church leaders, and the long, painful journey toward self-acceptance as a gay man.
This conversation goes far beyond headlines. David walks us through the internalized shame, religious scrupulosity, and obsessive righteousness that shaped his childhood and young adulthood. He reflects on the messages he received about masculinity, sexuality, and obedience –and how those teachings distorted his understanding of intimacy, trust, and self-worth.
We explore David’s experiences with Mormon apostles, including M. Russell Ballard, the November 2015 Policy, and the unsettling realization that Church leaders often spoke with certainty despite privately admitting they had no answers. David shares what it was like to be counseled to marry a woman, to suppress his identity, and to believe his faith could “heal” him –while quietly spiraling toward despair.
This episode also addresses growing up in a Mormon bubble, religious OCD, messages about LGBTQ people, chastity and sin, fame and unpaid church services, leaving the church and reclaiming agency and what happiness and God look like for him now.
David speaks with extraordinary honest, vulnerability, and compassion –not just for himself, but for the countless LGBTQ people still navigating high-demand religions.
Order his book here.
___________________
At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as scholars, authors, LDS apologists, and other professionals.
Our overall mission is to:
1. Facilitate informed consent amongst LDS Church members, investigators, and non-members regarding Mormon history, doctrine, and theology
2. Support Mormons (and members of other high-demand religions) who are experiencing a religious faith crisis
3. Promote healing, growth and community for those who choose to leave the LDS Church or other high demand religions
🤝Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today
One-time or recurring donations: https://donorbox.org/mormon-stories?default_interval=m
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mormonstories
Venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/mormonstories
Paypal: https://paypal.me/mormonstories
Join this channel to get access to perks:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx6OgmoqJbOVRq-Lv1P7SzA/join
Our Platforms:
🌐Mormon Stories Blog: https://www.mormonstories.org/episodes
🎙️Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mormonstories
✳️Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4sDzk7dRjODTSEqzZKZJzk?si=148b0efc1ccc4404&nd=1
🍎Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mormon-stories-lds/id312094772
🖼️Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mormstories
📱TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mormonstoriespodcast
🎮Discord: https://discord.com/invite/kuX5p6yyjF
Contact us:
📧 MormonStories@gmail.com
📬PO Box 171085, Salt Lake City, UT 84117
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hello, everyone, and welcome to another edition of Mormon Stories podcast. |
| 0:03.2 | I'm your host, John DeLinn. |
| 0:04.4 | The date of recording for today is January 26, 2026, and we are so super excited to have someone |
| 0:11.8 | who I've had on my top five list of most desired Mormon stories interviews for quite |
| 0:17.8 | some time. |
| 0:19.0 | It's the David Archeletta, singer, performer, you know, |
| 0:23.5 | former participant on American Idol and recording artist and international superstar. |
| 0:29.4 | Is that too much, David? |
| 0:32.9 | Well, it's a generous introduction. |
| 0:36.2 | Well, we're super excited because we are here to discuss your new book, which is at the time of this recording, we'll be coming out probably the same day or within a couple days. |
| 0:46.6 | The book is Devout by David Archiletta. |
| 0:49.5 | The subtitle is Losing My Faith to Find Myself. |
| 0:54.1 | And, you know, we've had your mom on Mormon Stories |
| 0:57.5 | previously. But David Archeletta, it's such an honor to finally have you on Mormon Stories |
| 1:02.6 | podcast. Thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me, John. It's, it's been, I feel such a long time |
| 1:08.7 | coming. I've seen so many, I've seen several of your, of your |
| 1:15.2 | podcast episodes and always very interesting, very insightful. A very interesting take on things, |
| 1:23.2 | especially coming from a place where, you know, where you grow up amidst all the things that you've, |
| 1:30.6 | a lot of the things you've talked about on your podcast, but like never is like, it was never |
| 1:35.6 | okay to talk about these things. So. Yeah. Well, um, it was great to have your mom, |
| 1:43.4 | my mom, um, have my mom, your mom, have my mom, have my mom and hear her, tell her story and experience on your podcast. |
| 1:52.5 | I thought that was really, that was really cool. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Dr. John Dehlin, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Dr. John Dehlin and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.