The Saved by the Bell reboot is far from a complete revival, with main star Mark-Paul Gooselaar only doing limited face-time, thanks to some killjoy contractual mishegoss, and ditto Tiffani Thiessen. Some actors are full-on missing from the production. One of those is Lark Voorhies, who played the school’s resident rich girl Lisa Turtle. It wasn’t her decision not to return; she was simply not asked. As per E! News, Voorhies opened up on The Dr. Oz Show about the reboot.
“I have to admit I did feel a bit slighted and hurt when I was not invited to be part of the Saved By the Bell reunion as well as other cast members events, yet of course,” she told the surgeon-turned-television staple.
But according to BET, Voorhies has a theory on why she got snubbed. She didn’t go on Dr. Oz to talk about Saved by the Bell; she appeared to talk about her struggles with mental illness, specifically a bipolar disorder that has her hearing “many competing voices,” although she that she feels “really good” these days.
“I also realized that having this puzzling disorder may have played a major part in that factual decision,” the actress added.
Voorhies discussed the stigma of mental illness both on the show and in an Instagram post, attempting to demystify it for people who don’t understand it.
The Saved by the Bell revival, which promotes ensemble players Elizabeth Berkley and Mario Lopez to main stars, is set to air sometime in 2020 on Peacock, NBCUniversal’s forthcoming streamer.
