Russell Brand is planning to get baptised because it's an "opportunity to leave the past behind "

Speaking in a video posted on social media, Brand explained: "This Sunday, I'm taking the plunge. I'm getting baptised. What's been explained to me is, it's an opportunity to die and be reborn.

"An opportunity to leave the past behind and be reborn in Christ's name. Like it says in [Bible scripture] Galatians: that you can live as an enlightened and awakened person ... [It's] so inviting and beautiful".

Brand went on to add: "People are so cynical about the increasing interest in Christianity and the return to God, but to me, it's obvious.

"As meaning deteriorates in the modern world, as our value systems and institutions crumble, all of us become increasingly aware that there is this eerily familiar awakening and beckoning figure that we've all known all of our lives, within us and around us. And for me it's very exciting."

Brand added that he considered being baptised in London's River Thames, but thought better of it after finding out the water contains high levels of E. coli bacteria.

He joked: "I may be leaving behind the sins, but I might be picking up some pretty serious viruses."

The 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall' star faced a litany of accusations - including allegations of rape, assault and emotional abuse between 2006 and 2013 - from a number of women who spoke out in September 2023 a part of a joint probe by Channel 4's 'Dispatches' programme and The Times, and Sunday Times.

Brand vehemently denied any wrongdoing and later called the claims "painful" during an interview on Tucker Carlson's X show.

He said: "Of course, I deny any allegations of the kind that have been advanced and what I have seen is the significance of family and the importance of beliefs that are transcendent of this.

"I reject the allegations in the strongest possible terms ... I put myself in a vulnerable position by being very promiscuous. Attacks like this, accused of what I consider to be the most appalling crimes, is very painful and hurtful.

"But there are consequences to the foolish way I lived in the past."