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Last fall, “Dr. Pimple Popper” suddenly became a patient herself.

Dr. Sandra Lee, the reality TV dermatologist and surgeon known for tackling ick-inducing skin situations on camera, had a bad day a week before Thanksgiving 2025 while she was taping new episodes of her show at her Upland office.

“I had what I thought was a hot flash. I got super sweaty and didn’t feel like myself,” she told People in an interview published Tuesday. She said she finished the shoot and then headed to her parents’ nearby home, where that evening she experienced shooting pains in one leg and later had trouble navigating down a flight of stairs in the middle of the night.

When she awakened the next day, she said, her left side wasn’t working properly and she was having trouble speaking clearly. It was definitely more than a hot flash.

Her doctor dad — also a dermatologist — told her to get herself to an ER, where she had an MRI that showed evidence of an ischemic stroke, where a vessel supplying blood to the brain gets obstructed. The diagnosis was a shock.

“As a physician I couldn’t deny that I had slurred speech, that I was having weakness on one side,” she said, “but I was like, ‘Well, this is a dream, right?’”

Lee, 55, said unmanaged cholesterol levels and high blood pressure were likely contributors to the stroke, plus the stress of balancing her real-life practice with the demands of “Dr. Pimple Popper.” She returned to production in January, she said, though she was more than a little freaked out.

“I don’t like that I don’t have total control of my left hand or the grip wasn’t as strong. If I feel like I’m not at my best — it’s very scary,” Lee said.

Her neurologist told the outlet that Lee’s symptoms are pretty much gone. Lee said she still notices slight differences when she speaks.

The TV doc is on blood thinners now and is still doing some physical therapy after spending two months post-stroke working through PT and occupational therapy. Lee had to make sure her left hand, among other body parts, was functional and that her balance and movement bounced back.

She does, after all, do precise procedures on camera for the Lifetime audience.

And with new episodes of “Dr. Pimple Popper” set to debut Monday for the first time since 2023, Lee remains fascinated by the people who spend time watching her do extractions and excisions, both on the show and online.

“People watch the videos over and over again because it helps them go to sleep at night,” she told People. But, she added, “Others watch it like it’s a scary movie or a roller coaster.”

EXCLUSIVE: Kieran McCartney has revealed what fans don’t see on The Apprentice including what Lord Alan Sugar, Baroness Karren Brady and Tim Campbell are really like

Kieran McCartney has revealed what the BBC bosses don’t show on The Apprentice.

The estate agent from East London is one of the eight remaining candidates in the running to become Lord Alan Sugar’s next business partner.

Last week, he put his neck on the line by cutting a dramatic “win or walk” deal with the business tycoon to save himself from being fired.

He’s the first contestant in the BBC show’s 21-year history to make a pact with Lord Sugar that he would lead the next task to victory – or walk away.

As fans wait to see the outcome of the bold move, Kieran’s shared some behind-the-scenes secrets including what Lord Sugar and his aides Baroness Karren Brady and Tim Campbell are really like.

“Those boardroom showdowns are as real as it gets,” he explained, before adding: “Everything is done in one take and they film everything once and once only. It’s all real and raw.

“What you see is what you get. Karren’s [Brady’s] very strong but a big softy and she grows on you.

“[Lord Alan] Sugar had lots of banter and I love that so I was giving it back to him. I don’t think anyone’s ever given back to the way I did and Tim’s just a lovely guy.”

Baroness Brady joined The Apprentice as one of Lord Sugar’s aides in 2010 replacing Margaret Mountford and Tim won the first series of The Apprentice in 2005 taking over Claude Littner in 2022.

Kieran went on to share exactly how much time he spent with Lord Sugar’s trusted advisors during the process.

He added: “When you split into your two teams, you then go into further two teams so there’s four groups overall.

“Karren and Tim spend the morning with one group and the afternoon with the other and then you see them in the boardroom.

“They kind of just sit there but I’m not sure they actually write anything down like you see on camera.”

To remember his ultimatum, Kieran has had a tattoo on his leg of Lord Sugar, Baroness Brady and Tim’s faces with the words “The Apprentice 2026” and catchphrase “win or walk”.

Addressing his thinking process behind his bold offer, he joked: “Lord Sugar will either love my tattoo or send me a legal letter.”

He continued: “I’d love to sit here and say it was all part of a bigger plan but it was a total impulse.

“I thought I was a goner and was going home, it was a last resort and I just came out with it.

“I had to make that deal with Lord Sugar to survive and I put my neck on the line. It was a one-off, never been done and that’s a bit of me.”

Kieran McCartney was speaking to BestBettingSites.co.uk – the leading comparison site for casino sites and The Apprentice airs Thursdays on BBC One and BBC iPlayer at 9pm