Leah Remini has been pretty open about her decision to leave the Church of Scientology, saying that after years of following the organization, she realized it was drawing her away from her family. Now, she says, they are closer than ever.

“In my house, it’s family first — but I was spending most of my time at the church. So I was saying ‘family first,’ but I wasn’t showing that. I didn’t like the message that sent my daughter….In the church, you’re taught that everybody is lost,” Remini said. “They say they’re loving, caring, nonjudgmental people, but secretly, they were judging the world for not believing what they believed. To me, that is not a spiritual person. That’s a judgmental person, and that is the person that I was. I was a hypocrite, and the worst thing you can be in this world is a hypocrite.”

Remini says she feels her family is a tighter unit now, but that the loss of several of their friends–who are still a part of the church–was difficult. There is a support system, however, which has eased the transition.

“We have other friends,who are not in the church, who have stood by us, and that’s all we can ask for,” she said.

The former King Of Queens star will be the focus of her own reality show this summer on TLC, which she says was a bit daunting at first. The idea of having a huge crew of camera operators and producers in her home didn’t exactly leave her filled with excitement, but in the end, she says, the entire family has had a blast doing it.

“Leah is a no-nonsense, hard-working, relatable mom, wife, daughter, and sister. Her sharp humor and unfiltered family are a perfect match for the network,” said TLC general manager Nancy Daniels. “This series continues our focus on creating compelling series about remarkable families, using heart and humor to anchor it to the TLC brand.”

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