W.V. Grant: Faith Healer Exposed by Randi and Convicted of Tax Fraud

W.V. Grant was one of a generation of American faith healers whose television ministries peaked in the 1980s. His signature miracle was leg lengthening — holding a seated believer's feet, observing one leg appear shorter, then apparently commanding it to grow to match. Audiences witnessed what looked like a limb visibly extending in real time.

James Randi explained the mechanism in 'The Faith Healers' (1987): the healer instructs the subject to sit in a way that makes one leg appear shorter — a slight rotation of the pelvis is sufficient — and the apparent 'growth' is the natural visual result of returning to a neutral seated position. The illusion requires no props beyond a chair, works on anyone, and is visible on video recordings of Grant's services.

ABC News and the Trinity Foundation went further in 1991, sending investigators undercover to Grant's pre-service preparation. They filmed Grant's staff coaching healthy audience members to simulate disability — instructing them to feign a limp or use a wheelchair — so they could be selected for healing during the service. The Primetime Live segment aired the footage.

In 1996 the IRS convicted Grant for failing to report $375,000 in taxable income, money he had used to purchase two homes including a $1 million personal residence. He served a prison term and resumed ministry activity after release. In 2011 mentalist Derren Brown's team attended a Grant service with an associate who deliberately filled out a prayer card with a false name; Grant repeated the false name onstage as a 'word of knowledge from God,' confirming the prayer-card harvesting method in live conditions.