Dr. Pimple Popper's Husband: Who Is He And How Did They Meet?
Yes, Dr. Pimple Popper's zit bursting videos are gross, but they're also weirdly gratifying to watch. They might make you queasy, but how can you help but be mesmerized watching her remove a pilar cyst or some gnarly blackheads? The dermatologist became so popular for her stomach-churning videos on Instagram and YouTube that she soon found herself starring on her own TLC show. She might have a massive following, but her pimple popping often overshadows her personal life. What is Dr. Pimple Popper's home life like? Does she have a husband?
Yes, Dr. Pimple Popper — whose real name is Dr. Sandra Lee — is married, and she also has two kids. Her husband, Dr. Jeffrey Rebish, is also a dermatologist. The couple met while they were in medical school in Philadelphia, and, according to Rebish, it was love at first sight. "Sandra walked into the room on orientation day, and I knew right away that she was the one," he told Refinery29 in January 2019. They eventually moved to California to take over a dermatology practice owned by Lee's dad, and have been running the business together since.
Dr. Pimple Popper's husband avoids the more theatrical surgeries
While they're both dermatologists, pimple popping is Lee's domain and Rebish has no interest in turning Dr. Pimple Popper into a husband-and-wife gig. "I handle the administrative side of the practice, while also seeing my own patients," Rebish explained. "But Sandra handles the cosmetic side of things — Botox and fillers, liposuction and eye lifts, and the more complex surgeries you see on TV. It's not what I like to do, but those more theatrical surgeries have always been her specialty."
There is at least one thing that Rebish does that Lee would prefer to opt-out of, though. "I definitely have to suppress a little gag when I have to deal with somebody's toes or toenail fungus," Lee told Mashable. "My husband is a dermatologist, and he removes toenails — I can't do that, that's too disgusting. It's like, barbaric, it's like, ugh."
Another reason that Rebish may not want to be on the show is that he's not as comfortable in front of the camera as his wife. He doesn't seem to have any public social media profiles, and, according to Lee, is a bit photo shy. "Getting my husband to take a photo with me is like trying to pop out a scarred cyst. Difficult!!" she wrote in the caption of a Facebook photo of the pair.
Dr. Pimple Popper kept her internet fame from her husband at first
Lee kept her pimple-popping fame under wraps for quite a while. Rebish explained to Refinery29 that he didn't realize she was becoming a social media sensation. "For as long as I can remember, Sandra has been the kind of person who can't sleep through the night," he said. "We'll be in bed, and she's up on her phone."
Rebish continued, saying that he thought his wife "was playing video games or something" when in reality "she was actually posting these videos of her surgeries to YouTube under this alias she created called Dr. Pimple Popper."
Lee didn't come clean "until she had a serious following," said Rebish. "Once YouTube was paying her and the videos were actually bringing in money, she filled me in. I didn't know what to make of it, because at that point, the Dr. Pimple Popper following was there, but still modest — probably about 5,000 subscribers, or so."
Dr. Pimple Popper's husband doesn't watch her show
Things have changed a lot for the newly-minted celeb couple since the TLC show debuted in 2018, but Rebish supports his wife's new TV career. He explained that Lee isn't able to dedicate as much time to their dermatology practice these days, but he's happy to fill in for her. "Ultimately, I'll always be involved any way Sandra needs me to be, because we're a team," said Rebish.
Apparently that even extends to doing some pimple popping of his own if he needs to. Rebish may not enjoy it, but he's done some gross-out procedures and has been featured on the Dr. Pimple Popper Instagram page from time to time. "Patient came in for a check up and my husband, Dr. Rebish found a benign (non-cancerous) Seborrheic keratosis AND a blackhead trying to hide out! Got ya mister," Lee captioned one such Instagram video in January 2021. Pimple popping may not be his thing, but he certainly is good at it!
Being supportive doesn't mean that Rebish actually watches the show, though. "I'd just rather not see that stuff outside of the office," he told Refinery29.