Sexy actress Jessica Alba turned her back on the born-again Christian community she grew up with when they started to make her feel ashamed of having a great body.

The DARK ANGEL star, who has become a Hollywood hot property in recent years, became a devout Christian in her teens, but started shunning her friends when they poked fun at her natural beauty.

Alba says, "One of the reasons why I chose not to be (a devout Christian) is because a lot of people gave me a lot of grief for just being a woman and made me feel ashamed for having a body because it tempted men.

"I didn't understand what that meant because I was like, 'God created this...' That was a hard time in my life."

But the actress hasn't completely turned her back on her conservative religious beliefs - she has a no-nudity clause on her film contract and insisted on covering up for a recent sexy GQ magazine spread - by wearing a pair of far-from-flattering knickers.

She reveals, "They didn't want me to wear the granny panties but I said, 'If I'm gonna be topless I need to wear granny panties.'"

23/03/2005 21:35