Lark Voorhies is best known for playing the cute, loveable, rich teen Lisa Turtle on the NBC sitcom “Saved By the Bell”. She is one of four cast members to be carried over from the original Disney Channel show “Good Morning Miss Bliss”. Since the show, she has appeared in a variety of films but many were left wondering what happened to her in recent years.
After a series of bizarre pictures and video, some begin to question if the once child star was sick, suffering from some disease or even if drugs were at play. There were even on-camera interviews where she would frequently stop mid-sentence and stare off, often mumbling to herself or to others who weren’t there.
It was until she appeared on the Dr. Oz show that fans really got an idea of what she was facing: a mental health disorder.
During her February 2020 appearance on Dr. Oz, Voorhies revealed for the first time that she had been diagnosed with schizoaffective thought disorder, a mental disorder that is often misdiagnosed as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. During that visit, she also admitted she was “hurt” to be excluded from the new series.
It was that experience, she explained, that led her to be contacted about doing a cameo in the Peacock “Saved By the Bell” reboot.
She was invited back after sending a note to Dr. Mehmet Oz about her earlier appearance.
“I have you to thank for the wonderful exposure on your show that contributed to the ‘SBTB’ producers rethinking my value to the production,” she wrote. “It’s always so good to be understood and be able to come home! Yes, ‘SBTB’ is home to me.”
According to her mother, Tricia, Voorhies has made “so much progress” since February of that year, adding, “it’s been incredible.”
“It was a very exciting,” she said of filming her cameo on the show. “I received a call from Elizabeth Berkley, who plays Jessie. She sent me a beautiful bouquet of flowers. And we had a great time shooting it.”
Tricia admitted it felt “really good” to see her daughter back doing what she loves on the show that made her famous. “This is something that she’s been wanting to do and she’s meant to do this, this is what she knows to do,” said Tricia. “It’s a lovely environment at ‘Saved by the Bell’ with the crew, the cast and crew. Everyone gets along, got along really well.”
Despite the strange interviews, marriages and divorces, and strange sightings over the years before appearing on Dr. Oz, it looks like Lark is doing well for herself lately.
Besides working back in Saved By the Bell reboots, the now 50-year-old Voorhies has also been co-hosting reunion shows and writing novels. Her first book was self-published, titled Reciprocity, it is available on Amazon along with her other releases. It had been noticed that Lark had been looking increasingly unwell when she appeared in person. She confirmed that she has been battling Lupus for the last ten years which may explain some of her more questionable makeup choices in recent years. In spite of this, she has reaffirmed her commitment to her company, her books, and her music.
Dr. Oz said he initially wanted to have Lark on his show two years ago, but “it became evident to my team she was still not well” when they did a pre-interview with her. “The first order of business was to…