Lark Voorhies’ Mom Admits the “Saved by the Bell ”Star's Father Had a Personality Disorder — but She Never Told the“ ”Actress

Angela AndaloroSat, May 9, 2026 at 2:58 PM UTC

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Lark Voorhies (left), Tricia Holloway (right)
Credit: courtesy of Investigation Discovery -

Lark Voorhies played Lisa Turtle on both Good Morning, Miss Bliss and Saved by the Bell

Voorhies began to exhibit symptoms of mental health struggles during her time on the hit '90s series, leading to her initial bipolar diagnosis

Voorhies's mom, Tricia Holloway, now opens up about the actress' most recent diagnosis in ID's latest installment of Hollywood Demons, "After the Bell"

Lark Voorhies' time on Saved by the Bell was marked by behind-the-scenes changes.

Both Voorhies and her mom, Tricia Holloway, appear in ID's latest installment of Hollywood Demons, "After the Bell." While Voorhies does not comment on the state of her health during her appearance in the documentary, Holloway shared some insights into her daughter's mental state in the later years of the series and into adulthood.

Holloway recalled Voorhies experiencing "dark moods" after long days on set, the earliest indicators that she was struggling with something.

“It’s as if she had been fighting that whole day, whatever is going on in her head, and then after the show, she would just give into that space," Holloway recalled. "She’d have anger moments, but they’d be short-lived, and I didn’t know why."

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Lark Voorhies as Lisa Turtle
Credit: Gary Null/NBCU Photo Bank

Voorhies originated the character of Lisa Turtle on Good Morning, Miss Bliss and continued it in Saved by the Bell and several TV movies that followed. It was for this reason that both she and her mom were surprised when she wasn't invited to participate in 1993's The College Years.

"They did exclude Lark, and I didn’t know why," Holloway shared. "You don’t know when you’re negotiating where they can exclude you, exclude your child, or that character. That’s part of the business."

Holloway recalled a strong reaction from fans, as well. "A lot of people in the Black community resented not having Lisa Turtle on there. That was their Black identity on Saved by the Bell. And that was suddenly gone.”

Lark Voorhies in 1999
Credit: Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty

Still, Voorhies continued acting before ultimately taking a seven-year break from 2001 to 2008. Holloway said that during that time, the actress was going through "a lot of conflicts with things that she was going through, emotionally and mentally."

"She went through bouts of anger. Sometimes, [she would] be slamming the doors or yelling out of frustration. She would run out of the house and I didn’t know where she was," Holloway recalled.

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"I thought, maybe there were things in her childhood that I didn’t know about. I was seeing something impacting my daughter that wasn’t healthy. It wasn’t good," she admitted.

Holloway explained that Voorhies did seek help for her mental health struggles. “First, I was told she was bipolar. Then the recent diagnosis is that she has schizoaffective thought disorder.”

The documentary included comments from Dr. Drew Pinsky, who noted that there's often a "genetic component" to schizoaffective thought disorder, which is markedly different than schizophrenia.

Schizoaffective disorder is a mental health condition that is marked by a mix of schizophrenia symptoms, such as hallucinations and delusions, and mood disorder symptoms, such as depression, mania and a milder form of mania called hypomania, per the Mayo Clinic.

Holloway conceded that Voorhies' father, Wayne Holloway, "had indicators of things."

Lark Voorhies as Lisa Turtle in "Saved by the Bell" reboot
Credit: Patrick Wymore/Peacock/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty

"When we were married, his anger scared me," she shared. "When there was one slap, I left. I was gone. When [Lark] got older, around 12, 13, she spent time with him, and she talked about his anger fits. He passed away somewhere around 2016."

Tricia continued, "I came into some paperwork on his death, and there was a medication which indicated there was some sort of personality disorder. And that’s why he and I could not get along in our marriage.”

When producers asked Tricia if Voorhies was aware of her father's mental health background, she replied, "I don’t think so, no. I didn’t tell her that. So she’ll learn now."

“After the Bell” premiered Monday, May 4 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on ID. New episodes of Hollywood Demons premiere weekly, with episodes available to stream on HBO Max.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”