Tragic Details About The Cast Of Pretty Little Liars

The following article contains mentions of disordered eating, mental health issues, pregnancy loss, and addiction.

From the time the first few episodes of the Freeform series "Pretty Little Liars" aired in 2010, fans were hooked. For seven seasons, viewers watched as Spencer, Hanna, Aria, and Emily investigated their friend's disappearance while "A" threatened to expose their secrets. While the characters dealt with some pretty heavy issues, many of which are things only adults would notice about "Pretty Little Liars" (like the romanticization of predatory relationships), the cast have actually experienced several devastating events themselves.

While the drama series explored themes of eating disorders, addiction, and bullying, among others, the show's stars have endured similar issues. From the actor who was fired from "Pretty Little Liars" to the heartbreaking loss another experienced and how Lucy Hale knew she'd reached "rock bottom," here are the tragic details about the cast of "Pretty Little Liars."

While many might be wondering what the cast of "Pretty Little Liars" are doing now, you might also be curious as to what might've happened to them before they were on the show. Bianca Lawson, who played Emily's love interest Maya St. Germain for three seasons, has gone on to have a successful acting career. But before she was famous, Lawson was tragically the victim of some extreme bullying.

As she told Us Weekly at the premiere of "Bully" in March 2012, growing up in Los Angeles wasn't as glamorous as it might sound. "I've had guns pulled on me. Large sharp things thrown at me. Really bad things," Lawson explained. "People can be really, really cruel. [Bullying] is sad and it takes a while to get over." Fortunately, she could lean on her parents for support, and they informed her principal of the cruel antics Lawson's fellow classmates were pulling.

Although it was Hanna, Ashley Benson's character, who was portrayed to have an eating disorder on "Pretty Little Liars," Troian Bellisario has had personal experience with the issue. As a teen, the actor had anorexia nervosa, which she wrote about for Lenny Letter in December 2017. "There is a part of my brain that defies logic," Bellisario explained. "Once, it completely convinced me I should live off 300 calories a day, and at some point, it told me even that was too much." After she lost a significant amount of weight in high school, her parents intervened and she was diagnosed with the eating disorder.

In college, Bellisario's weight dropped significantly and she was hospitalized. "I thought I was at rock bottom, the end of my life, a failure, but actually, I was just at the beginning," she wrote in an article for the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA). The "Pretty Little Liars" star acknowledged that anorexia can be deadly, and while it nearly killed her, she was fortunate enough to find the support she needed to recover. In 2017, Bellisario's movie "Feed" was released, which she based on her tragic experience.

If you need help with an eating disorder, or know someone who does, help is available. Visit the National Eating Disorders Association website or contact NEDA's Live Helpline at 1-800-931-2237. You can also receive 24/7 Crisis Support via text (send NEDA to 741-741).

Over the course of seven seasons, the cast of "Pretty Little Liars" got to experiment with their looks quite a bit. Ashley Benson, for example, got to have some fun with her hair. She cut it into a cute bob ahead of Season 3, dyed it brown and wore a blond wig over her natural hair in Season 4, and even added black streaks to it in Season 5. However, it was a little too much experimentation with her hair that resulted in Benson's "biggest regret."

During an August 2018 interview with Elle, the actor warned, "Stay away from heat as much as you can." After bleaching her hair throughout Season 3 of "Pretty Little Liars," Benson admitted her hair was so fried from the chemicals that a lot of it ended up falling out. "I got a call from Warner Bros. like, 'You need to do something with your hair,' and I'm like, 'Well, duh, I'm bald!'" she remarked.

Before Ian Harding's buzzy Hallmark debut, he was better known as Ezra Fitz, the English teacher at Rosewood High School who had a controversial relationship with his student Aria, Lucy Hale's teenage character. And while the actor has managed to maintain a fairly consistent filmography, appearing in movies like "Ford v Ferrari" and "Our Little Secret" alongside Lindsey Lohan, the "Pretty Little Liars" star has been grappling with tragic circumstances since he was a child.

When he was just 8, Harding's mother Mary was diagnosed with lupus, an incurable autoimmune disease, and she was given just seven or eight years to live. Harding became a source of support for his mom, who still did all she could to give her two children relatively normal lives. Over the years, the actor has made it his mission to work with the Lupus Foundation of America, raising funds and awareness around the disease.

In Harding's 2017 memoir, "Odd Birds," he paid tribute to his mother's perseverance throughout her 30-plus-years-long illness. In speaking about his book with People at the time, the actor remarked, "When you're handed such a horrible thing, it's easy to get down, it's easy to give up, it's easy to have all these negative thoughts. And my mother was very inspirational because she wouldn't let it get her down."

Sasha Pieterse was just 13 years old, the youngest of the main cast, when she landed the role of the sharp-tongued and manipulative Alison DiLaurentis on "Pretty Little Liars." Throughout the majority of the series, Ali was cruel — and unfortunately, many internet users mirrored this behavior when the then-17-year-old Pieterse gained 70 pounds over the course of a year. "[O]ne of the hardest parts about what we [as actors] do for a living is that ... people think they know you and they also feel comfortable telling you how they feel," she told E! News in October 2018. "[E]ven when it's offensive."

While speaking with Taylor Lautner and his wife on their podcast "The Squeeze" in August 2023, Pieterse revealed the truth behind her health struggles. "The changes that were happening to me were documented on camera," the actor began. Doctors had assured Pieterse that her irregular period was due to her young age, but when she started gaining weight without any apparent cause, she began to worry.

"I went up to over 15 gynecologists. ... One gynecologist told me to my face that I was lying," she said. "That I must be eating terribly and I must be doing everything wrong because, 'Look at you,' was essentially what he said." Eventually, Pieterse visited an endocrinologist who took her concerns seriously. After a blood test, she was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a hormonal disorder.

Although you might know her best from her breakout role as Jennifer "Moze" Mosely on "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide," Lindsey Shaw also had a five-season run on "Pretty Little Liars" as Paige, one of Emily's romantic interests. That is until she was written off in a Season 5 episode. Shaw disappeared for a couple of years before coming back to the series for a few episodes, but her character's sudden departure didn't sit right with some viewers.

While speaking on the "Ned's Declassified Podcast Survival Guide" in July 2023, the actor told her co-hosts, "I basically got let go from 'Pretty Little Liars' Season 5 because of the weight that I had lost." Shaw explained that she'd struggled with drug use and an unhealthy body image and had lost enough weight for the showrunners to become concerned.

"When I had my drug problem and I was in between working on stuff, I would never have to address my relationship with food because I was always like, 'Oh, I could always just go get more Adderall ... and be okay with it,'" Shaw remarked. "So it was really hard." Fortunately, as she was let go, the crew assured Shaw that her firing had nothing to do with her acting abilities and assured her she had their support.

As far as antagonists go, Janel Parrish's portrayal of Mona Vanderwaal was a pretty intimidating one on "Pretty Little Liars." Although she played the mean girl well, it's clear the actor has very little in common with her on-screen persona (aside from her chic fashion sense). Parrish married her dream man Chris Long in September 2018 after getting engaged to him almost a year prior. Their stunning ceremony was held in Hawaii among several friends and family members, but one person was tragically absent.

Just two weeks before the happy couple were married, Long's father Buck was killed in a devastating drunk-driving incident. Not long after her wedding, Parrish shared an Instagram tribute. "A few weeks ago, we got the awful news that my now father in law was tragically killed by a drunk driver on his beloved Sunday motorcycle ride," she wrote, alongside a photo of Buck toasting Parrish and Long. "Words can't explain the feeling of losing someone to something so senseless... something that could have been prevented." The "Pretty Little Liars" star also took the opportunity to raise awareness around Mothers Against Drunk Driving and encouraged her followers to donate to their important cause in Buck's honor.

Shay Mitchell has been busy since starring in "Pretty Little Liars" as Emily Fields, and although she didn't return for sequel series "The Perfectionists," she's maintained a consistent acting career. She welcomed her first daughter Atlas to the world in October 2019, and a couple of years later, her second daughter Rome was born. With their kids, Mitchell and her longtime partner Matte Babel have formed a sweet family unit of four. And while they seem to have the perfect life now, they hit a rough patch back in 2018.

On New Year's Day of 2019, the actor looked back on the hardships she faced on her Instagram Story and revealed she had suffered a miscarriage. Later that year, spoke about the loss in the first episode of her YouTube docuseries, "Almost Ready," in which she documented her second pregnancy. "[I]t was extremely difficult," she shared. Mitchell was 14 weeks along when she miscarried. "At that point, I had no idea the percentage of miscarriages. When it happened, I was just completely blindsided by it," she said.

Unfortunately, Mitchell also encountered difficulty while pregnant with Atlas because she experienced prepartum depression. During an April 2021 interview with Today Parents, she said, "I had heard so much about postpartum depression but not so much about prepartum, which is equally as important, just less talked about." Fortunately, Mitchell had friends who supported her as she dealt with the mood disorder, which affects 7% of pregnant women.

After "Pretty Little Liars" ended in 2017, Tyler Blackburn managed to keep working on-screen, including in an appearance on "Charmed." Although he was well recognized for his role as Caleb, the tech-savvy hunk on the Freeform show, he played Alex Manes on the CW series "Roswell, New Mexico" for its entire four-season run. However, when Season 3 came about, fans soon noticed that Blackburn's character had practically disappeared. He was notably absent through much of the fourth season, too, but when his military veteran character finally made an appearance in an August 2022 episode, Blackburn explained what had happened.

"I was dealing with intense health issues that lead to, at times, intense mental health issues," the actor wrote in a Twitter post. "I had to step down from filming season 4." While he didn't elaborate much further, Blackburn did say that the showrunners were compassionate. Unfortunately, the "Pretty Little Liars" star hasn't starred in anything since the end of "Roswell, New Mexico," but hopefully fans will see him in a new production soon.

If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

Sadly, Lucy Hale first experienced hardship before she played Aria Montgomery on "Pretty Little Liars." When she was 14 years old, she developed an unhealthy obsession with exercise and restrictive eating. On the "The Diary of a CEO" podcast in February 2023, Hale addressed her eating disorder. "[I]t was all I thought about from the moment I woke up until I went to bed at night. How much did I eat? How much did I work out?" she said. "I would step on a scale 30 times a day."

Hale struggled after "Pretty Little Liars" ended, too, as her alcoholism ultimately led her to hit "rock bottom" at age 32. During a September 2024 conversation with People, the actor explained that she began drinking as a teenager to "shut [her] brain off." Hale, who had previously described herself as a "textbook binge drinker," said, "It worked for me for a while until it turned really dark." After many attempts over the years to get sober, she celebrated three years of sobriety in January 2025.

Hale described her eating disorder and addiction struggles as "self-destructive and self-sabotaging" coping mechanisms that stemmed from a lack of self-worth. Although Hale couldn't pinpoint exactly why she never felt like "enough," it's something she is working on still.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

While Holly Marie Combs portrayed Aria's mom, Ella Montgomery, on "Pretty Little Liars," her career throughout the '90s and aughts is what made her a star. In particular, the actor had a recurring role on "Charmed" as Piper Halliwell, which she portrayed alongside the legendary Shannen Doherty for the show's first three seasons. The two became close, which is why Combs was particularly devastated when her dear friend died in July 2024 after a nine-year battle with breast cancer.

Combs shared a sweet Instagram tribute at the time, posting several snaps of the two actors together. "My better half of 31 years. There is a hollow in my chest and I can't seem to catch my breath," she wrote in the caption. "A part of me is missing." The "Pretty Little Liars" star went on to praise her friend, noting that Combs' children and her "Charmed" fans would always remember her. "You were and will be forevermore my sister," she added.

Although she's enjoyed a career that has spanned 25 years and dozens of credits, no one could forget Tammin Sursok's iconic portrayal of Jenna Marshall on "Pretty Little Liars." The South African-born and Aussie-raised actor has had her hands full since the series ended, working on several projects and raising her two daughters, Phoenix and Lennon. But tragically, Sursok deals with something many other parents can probably relate to: parental guilt.

In speaking with Prevention Australia in December 2024, she remarked, "When I had my first child, I felt very lost and isolated. No one was talking about the shame and guilt that sometimes surrounds being a parent, when you feel like you're not doing it right." Sursok has been an open book for years, and she's previously revealed her struggles with an eating disorder, miscarriage, and postpartum anxiety. "[Anxiety] used to paralyze me. Now I just kind of keep going while it's happening and then it gets better," the "Pretty Little Liars" star said.

Sursok explained that, fortunately, speaking about her issues openly has resulted in connection. People have come forward with their stories in response, inspiring the television star to continue with her efforts. "That's the reason I share, because I don't want other people to feel suffocated by their own pain and experiences," Sursok explained.

Chad Lowe has been in the public eye since the '80s. While he might not be as recognizable as his brother Rob, younger fans might know him best as Byron Montgomery, Aria's dad on "Pretty Little Liars." While the actor has certainly experienced a certain level of luxury, tragedy struck when he became one of the stars who lost their homes in the Los Angeles wildfires in January 2025.

Lowe shared a heartbreaking Instagram post shortly after his Palisades home was destroyed, showcasing what little stood standing. "This is what remains of 10 years of building our lives. Our hearts are broken," he wrote. While Lowe acknowledged that he and his family, including his three young daughters, were fortunate in that they had each other, the tragic impact is unimaginable. "Home really is where the heart is. Hold those you love close," the actor added.

Rob Lowe spoke with Entertainment Tonight around the same time to shine a light on how his brother was impacted by the fires. The "Parks and Recreation" star added that he was helping out his brother by giving him many of his own things, including clothes. "He got a lot of big brother hand-me-downs — he's back to being 15 years old," Rob laughed.