Kriti Mehrotra
Directed by Chris Smith, HBO’s ‘Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult’ is a documentary series carefully chronicling the tale of the now-defunct New Age spirituality group Eternal Values. The community was founded by enigmatic socialite and self-proclaimed lifestyle guru Frederick von Mierers, but most of his core disciples were actually models and public figures. Among them was Jacki Adams, who made waves by falling in love with a fellow member, noticing there was allegedly a lot of manipulation involved, and then evolving into a whistleblower.
Jacki Adams Was a Supermodel in Her Prime When She Joined Eternal Values
Although a proud native of Tampa Bay, Florida, Jacki Adams’ early years were far from happy or stable, as she sadly lost her father in the Vietnam War when she was merely 8 years old. Her mother also struggled with “some mental illness,” per her account in the show, so she was essentially left to her own devices by the time she was a teenager and living alone by age 15. That’s when her resilience really shone through as she managed to provide for herself by juggling high school, a job at McDonald’s, a babysitting gig, and a position at a photo studio.
“For me, everything good happened when I left home,” Jacki candidly said in the aforementioned original. “… One time (in the photo studio), a model couldn’t make it. So, they decided, ‘Hey, let’s dress up Jacki.'” She was admittedly quite insecure about her looks at that point, but the photographer loved her aesthetic and the way she shot so much that they took the images to Eileen Ford. The next thing the then-17-year-old, soon-to-be Hillsborough High School graduate knew, she was being introduced to the world on a televised news program as Ford Models’ latest find – it was February 1981.
Jacki subsequently completed her studies, spent time networking in the Brandon area, and then settled down in New York to really establish a name for herself in the industry. Little did she know she would end up a supermodel, securing advertisements for Versace, Chanel, and Elizabeth Arden, editorials in Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, and magazine covers for Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, New Woman, Linea Intima, and Vogue, among many others. She was even the face of Estée Lauder for a while. However, despite all her success, she wasn’t content as she struggled to find the meaning behind it all, that is, until she joined Eternal Values after first reading about them in the 1985 New Age book, ‘Aliens Among Us.’
Jacki Adams Had No Idea Eternal Values Would Turn Her Life Upside Down
While Jacki’s interest in Eternal Values stemmed from a rather paranormal-focused book, what actually attracted her to them wasn’t the idea that the members were all extraterrestrial walk-ins. Instead, it was their mission and values that pulled her in. “They had this sense of urgency about important stuff, like your life, like your soul,” she said in the production. “I was like, ‘Yes! Yes! That’s so much better than worrying about what shade of lipstick goes with the Chanel jacket.'” She thus became part of the community, with the first person to really talk to her inside being leader Frederick von Mierers’ trusted right-hand man/beloved protege, John Andreadis.
Neither Jacki nor John ever expected to form an attachment, but they did after the latter gave her an astrological reading wherein he allegedly discovered that their “charts were like twin flames.” While he wholeheartedly believed they were meant to be together, she believed “the system of tracking the stars could make sense of her existence,” driving her to break up with her then-partner. According to the series, she called off her relationship within 4 days of first meeting John, but they took things really slow because romance wasn’t really accepted within the community.
Jacki has since claimed that she was often humiliated and talked down to by the leader or her fellow members, but she and John remained strong. There were many conflicts and confrontations within the group owing to this love affair, yet the couple ultimately managed to tie the knot in a cozy ceremony sometime around 1988. It was reportedly what kept being demanded of them next that made them believe Frederick was allegedly abusive, controlling, and manipulative, resulting in them leaving in early 1999. As per the original, an example is Jacki being asked to lock John in a room without food, water, or contact for days until he had completed a certain amount of work.
Jacki Adams is Currently Leading a Quiet Life While Focusing on Her Family
When Jacki and John parted ways with Eternal Values, they clung to each other as if they were the only real things to exist because readjusting to the real world was that much of a shock to them. That’s because the former had been immersed in that world for over 3 years despite continuing to work as a supermodel, whereas her husband had been involved with it since the age of 16. However, as time passed, they realized they weren’t actually in love – they genuinely cared for one another and wanted the best for each other, but they were friends more than they were spouses. They thus got an annulment before the model decided she couldn’t stay silent.
Jacki not only spoke to the District Attorney’s office about Frederick’s operations and his alleged gemstone scam, but also gave an interview to Vanity Fair to expose the community as a cult. Yet, nothing ever became of these because the self-described lifestyle guru passed away on February 4, 1990, before any formal investigations were completed and before the exposé was published. Instead, her efforts somehow backfired as she gradually began losing clients and major shoots, making her realize that her time in the modeling industry was coming to an end.
Jacki subsequently stepped away from the limelight largely on her own terms, deciding to focus on other avenues of her life and passions. While she has since been careful not to share too many details about her personal or professional experiences to maintain privacy, we do know she is a family woman. From what we can tell, she had a few unsuccessful relationships over the years before she found the love of her life in a Marine, whom she happily tied the knot with sometime in late 2018. However, the now Oregon resident doesn’t regret any aspect of her journey because it gave her a beautiful daughter named Marianna Florine, a kind son called Pierce, and some adorable stepchildren, all of whom are adults as of writing. Jacki is also a cat mom, with a long-held passion for climbing, having undertaken some of the most adventurous and dangerous peaks for fun.
Read More: Frederick von Mierers’ Net Worth: How Rich Was the Eternal Values Leader at the Time of His Death?
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