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Kate Ceberano's secret belief unmasked

She’s just been revealed as the face - and voice - behind the Lion mask on the smash-hit reality show The Masked Singer.

But there’s another side to Aussie music icon Kate Ceberano that wasn’t mentioned as they dropped clues about her identity, and that’s the fact that the multi-ARIA winner is a devout Scientologist.

And by devout, we mean that the 52-year-old singer-songwriter - born Catherine Yvette Ceberano - is a third-generation Scientologist who’s since risen to the top ranks of the controversial religion.

Her daughter is also said to be part of the Church and reportedly attended an exclusive ‘Scientology school’ in the US.

Kate Ceberano and Scientology. Photo: Instagram/therealkateceberano.
Kate Ceberano was revealed as the Lion on The Masked Singer on Monday night. Photo: Instagram/therealkateceberano.
Kate Ceberano and Scientology. Photo: Instagram/therealkateceberano.
Kate is a high-profile Scientologist. Photo: Channel 10.

Is Kate Ceberano a Scientologist?

Kate was born in Melbourne to an American father of Filipino descent and an Australian mother, Cherie Ceberano, who is said to be a Scientology minister.

Her grandparents Douglass and Kathleen Joyce were reportedly early devotees of the religion in Australia, and Kate was raised in a ‘large Scientology family’.

Throughout her thirty years in the spotlight, Kate has kept rather tight-lipped about her faith but has occasionally spoken about it in the past.

In an interview with Show + Tell back in 2014, the ‘Pash’ hit-maker tentatively opened up about why she’s a Scientology devotee.

“All I can say is that it’s a very valuable philosophy. It’s kind of the structure that I’ve needed to draw my own path,” she said.

“I just love that with Scientology I’ve got this fantastic order,” she added.

She went on to point out that the religion is “something that one needs to read and understand themselves, it’s not something you inherit by an authority, someone telling you that you must do this and then this will happen”.

She also compared the belief to ‘Eastern philosophy’ and Buddhism.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 30:  (L-R) Radio announcer Mardi Cole, President of the Church of Scientology Leichhardt, Rohn Walker, singer Kate Ceberano, Director of Community Services of Leichhardt Council, Netties Griggs, Community Relations Director Mary Szental and President of Scientology Missions International, Claire Edwards, pose at the Mission of Leichardt September 30, 2002 in Sydney, Australia. Church officials said that the mission will be further established to become Australia's first Church of Scientology "Celebrity Centre."  (Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)
Kate (third from left) at the Mission of Leichardt in 2002, which Church officials said at the time would be further established to become Australia's first Church of Scientology "Celebrity Centre". Photo: Getty Images.
HOLLYWOOD - AUGUST 04:  Singer/dancer Kate Ceberano attends the 2007 Church of Scientology summer event celebrating the 38th anniversary of the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre International on August 4, 2007 in Hollywood, California. Singer Kate Ceberano was recently announced as the winner of "Dancing with the Stars" in Australia.  (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for COS)
Kate Ceberano at the Church of Scientology summer event celebrating the 38th anniversary of the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre International in 2007 in California. Photo: Getty Images.

Scientology’s ‘pin-up girl’

Also in 2014, Kate was reportedly awarded the Church’s highest honour, the ‘Freedom Medal’, in a secret ceremony which prompted A Current Affair to brand her Scientology’s Aussie ‘pin-up girl’.

Two years later, the chart-topper was on hand to sing at the grand opening of a new $57 million Scientology center in Chatswood, Sydney.

Also in 2016, Kate was rumoured to have achieved a coveted ‘OT 8’ ranking, described as ‘the top of the Bridge to Total Freedom’ - that same year she was appointed Member of the Order of Australia during the Queen's Birthday Honours.

In an undated quote on the Scientology website, Kate spoke about her love for Scientology and one of the Church’s ‘tools,’ the ‘Tone Scale’.

“The Tone Scale is invaluable wisdom for any artist. I think Scientology is essential. It’s been the most practical tool for me to have. I love being a Scientologist,” she said.

“I’m proud to have parents and grandparents who are Scientologists. I love being an individual and expressing myself and Scientology has enabled me to do that,” she added.

The ‘Tone Scale’ is said to “plot emotions in an exact ascending or descending sequence” and aims to guide Scientologists in “how best to communicate with [others] and how to help them”.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - AUGUST 26:  Kate Ceberano and her daughter arrive ahead of the NGV Gala at NGV International on August 26, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia.  (Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images)
Kate and her daughter Gypsy at the NGV Gala in 2017. Photo: Getty Images.

Kate’s daughter attends Scientology school

Kate shares a daughter, Gypsy Lee Rogers, with her husband of 23 years, writer-director Lee Rogers.

Elsewhere in the Show + Tell interview, she explained how she’s raising the now-15-year-old as a Scientologist but clarified that Gypsy was never under pressure to adopt her mother’s faith.

“It’s imperative to understand that you never just by birth alone become a Scientologist. It requires your own journey,” she said.

She added that she hopes Gypsy will “find a way in life that is her own”.

In November 2018, proud dad Lee took to Instagram to post a now-deleted photo of Gypsy’s certificate of acceptance to the exclusive and expensive Delphian School in Oregon, US, which is widely touted as a ‘Scientology school’.

Kate Ceberano and Scientology. Photo: Instagram/therealkateceberano.
Gypsy (centre) poses in her cheerleading uniform at Delphian School in the US. Photo: Instagram/leerogers12.

Delphian’s tuition reportedly costs upwards of $72,000 a year and students - many of whom are boarders - are taught from a curriculum that is partly based on the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard, who founded Scientology in 1952.

On the school’s website, it’s stated that Hubbard’s “breakthrough” ‘methods of learning’ are part of the study tools learned by all Delphian students.

One of the teachings is Hubbard's intense ‘Study Tech’ method which is similar to rote learning but requires pupils to repeat the same word they’re attempting to learn over and over, regardless of how long it takes for it to sink in.

Students are also expected to also follow the “common-sense moral code” outlined in Hubbard's book, The Way to Happiness.

A month into her studies, Lee shared a happy snap of Gypsy posing in a Delphian cheerleading uniform with the caption, “Gypsy living her dream!”

In August this year, it appeared that Gypsy’s time at the school was coming to an end, with the teen writing, “Leaving Delphi tomorrow and I have mixed emotions,” on her Instagram account.

Hollywood US star Tom Cruise inaugurates 18 September 2004 in Madrid a new centre for the controversial Church of Scientology, of which he is a member. Cruise, who attended the European premiere of his new thriller "Collateral" in Venice earlier this month, spoke briefly in Spanish to the 1,000-odd people gathered at the new centre near the national parliament. Church members have for several days been distributing leaflets inviting people to come to "a party which will be attended by Tom Cruise," an AFP journalist said. Founded in the United States in 1954 by science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology was accorded the status of religion there in 1993, but is regarded with suspicion in many European countries, where opponents accuse it of manipulating members for financial ends.  AFP PHOTO/ Pierre-Philippe MARCOU        (Photo credit should read PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/AFP/GettyImages)
Tom Cruise inaugurates a new centre for the Church of Scientology in 2004 in Madrid, Spain. Photo: Getty Images.

Which other celebs are Scientologists?

Kate Ceberano isn’t the only celebrity to be part of the Church of Scientology. Other high-profile and high-ranking famous members include Grease star John Travolta and his wife Kelly Preston, Kirsty Alley, Elizabeth Moss, Laura Prepon, Juliette Lewis and, of course, Tom Cruise.

Tom’s daughter with ex-wife Katie Holmes, 13-year-old Suri Cruise, was spotted on Monday in NYC carrying a copy of Margaret Atwood's novel The Handmaid's Tale.

Tom’s other two children who he adopted with then-wife Nicole Kidman, Connor, 24, and Isabella, 26, are both heavily involved in the Church, with the Mission Impossible star taking his son to a Scientology conference in London.

Isabella reportedly recently become an ‘auditor’ after completing a Scientology “internship” while both Nicole and Katie have left the Church.

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