Star of TLC reality show suffered stroke while filming new series

EntertainmentHealth & Fitness
15 Apr 2026 • 2:11 AM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

Star of TLC reality show suffered stroke while filming new series

  • Sandra Lee, known as Dr. Pimple Popper, disclosed she suffered a life-altering stroke last November while filming the second season of her Lifetime series.
  • She initially experienced symptoms she mistook for a hot flash, including sweating, restlessness, and shooting pains in one leg, which she initially dismissed.
  • The following morning, Lee woke up to find the left side of her body incapacitated, accompanied by slurred speech and difficulty enunciating.
  • Her father insisted she go to the emergency room, where an MRI confirmed she had suffered an ischemic stroke, caused by a blood clot cutting off blood supply to the brain.
  • Lee, a physician herself, expressed shock at the diagnosis, stating that a part of her brain had died as a result of the stroke.

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