Dr Pimple Popper, Sandra Lee suffered stroke while filming new season

Sandra Lee, widely known as Dr Pimple Popper, has revealed she suffered a stroke while filming the second season of her Lifetime series Dr Pimple Popper: Breaking Out.

The dermatologist said the medical emergency occurred in November during production. Speaking about the incident, Lee explained, “It happened while I was filming the show. I had what I thought was a hot flash. I got super sweaty and didn’t feel like myself.”

After completing filming for the day, she went to her parents’ home, where symptoms continued. “I just felt very restless. In one leg, I kept feeling shooting pains,” she said, adding that she also experienced difficulty walking and speaking.

The following morning, Lee noticed significant weakness on the left side of her body. “I would hold my hand out, and it would just slowly collapse. I noticed that I had a tough time articulating and just enunciating. I thought, ‘Am I having a stroke?’”

She was taken to the hospital, where an MRI confirmed she had suffered an ischaemic stroke. “It was just a shock. As a physician, I couldn’t deny that I had slurred speech, that I was having weakness on one side, but I was like, ‘Well, this is a dream, right?’ What essentially happened is I had a part of my brain that died.”

Production on the series was paused for two months while Lee underwent physical and occupational therapy. She later returned to work in January, although she noted ongoing challenges and said the experience left her with “a lot of PTSD”.

Dr Pimple Popper: Breaking Out season two is scheduled to premiere on April 20.