Fans of Bethany Joy Lenz's podcast Drama Queens were among the first to hear a pretty startling revelation from the One Tree Hill star as she announced she was in a cult for 10 years.
And no, we're not talking about a fictional cult in a forgotten episode of the popular drama series.
Lenz dropped the bombshell about her unusual life experience in Monday's episode of the podcast (10 July), which launched in June 2021 and sees Lenz rewatch One Tree Hill with her former co-stars, Sophie Bush and Hilarie Burton.
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The trio welcomed another of their co-stars, Michaela McManus, on to the latest episode of the podcast, and during his appearance, he asked them whether they would be interested in becoming authors, on top of their other talents.
Lenz, who is now 42-years-old, discussed writing about her past and everything she's been through, and while she's been working for a long time on writing her own story, the actor said she's found it hard to compile it all together.
She explained: "I think the ADHD has made it really difficult over the years... I have lots of essays and lots of chapters and things. But to really commit to putting it all together, because I would love to write about my experience."
Lenz has appeared in a series of TV shows throughout her career, including Grey's Anatomy, Dexter and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, but she's also had some pretty interesting experiences off screen, too.
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Lenz then told her co-hosts: “I was in a cult for 10 years. That would be a really valuable experience to write about, and the recovery — 10 years of recovery after that. So there’s a lot to tell.”
The actor didn't go into detail about the cult, referring to legal reasons which may made it tough to talk about, but she drew attention to the 'pressure of getting [her story] right'.
"[There is] everything having to be exactly real and all the people that are involved... Also, I don’t know how much I can say because there are still people and legal things in place that make it more complicated for the timing of that,” she said. “But I do write. I mean, I write all the time. There’s some things in the works. There’s some projects coming out."
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I think it's safe to say a lot of people would be very interested to learn more about Lenz's time in the cult - let's just hope she finds a way to tell her story.
Topics: Celebrity, Film and TV
Emily Brown