'One Tree Hill' alum Bethany Joy Lenz opens up about leaving 'Cult' in her new memoir

“One Tree Hill” alum Bethany Joy Lenz opens up about leaving a group she describes as a “cult” in her new memoir, “Dinner for Vampires: Life on a Cult TV Show (While also in an Actual Cult!).” .

Lenz, who played Haley James Scott on the iconic teen drama for nine seasons between 2003 and 2012, described the group, known as The Big House Family, in an interview with “Good Morning America” ​​that aired Tuesday.

“It was just a home group Bible study, and then everything changed when a pastor came in from another state,” Lenz said. “I think he just saw a lot of young professionals and saw dollar signs in their eyes and said, 'Oh, I know what I can do here.'”

Lenz said the priest then began a “long-term fraud” and “long-term manipulation.”

“After about a year, I was completely immersed in it,” she said.

Lenz married a member of the group and split her time between the group's home base in Idaho and the One Tree Hill set in North Carolina.

Lenz said her on-screen marriage to her co-star James Lafferty, who played Nathan Scott on the series, was much happier than her real-life relationship.

“He's always been like a friend to me, a brotherly person that I really love and care about,” she said of Lafferty. “But I know that there was this constant back and forth in my body and this awareness that I'm capable of butterflies and feeling excited and feeling loved and committed by another person, and that doesn't happen in my marriage – and That never happened either.”

Lenz said she eventually left the group and her marriage in search of a better life for her daughter.

“I left because of my daughter. I left because it was time,” she said. “I remember that thought. I said, 'I don't know what's wrong with me and why I'm going to allow myself to be treated like this, but there's no way I'm going to let this happen to her.' We have to get out.'”

As Lenz struggled with a fresh start, she said she realized that $2 million she made from “One Tree Hill” was going unaccounted for.

“I don’t know if it’s buried in a hole somewhere. I don’t know if it was just spent,” she said.

These days Lenz is reuniting with old friends – her “One Tree Hill” actresses Sophia Bush and Hilarie Burton Morgan. The trio now hosts the “Drama Queens” podcast.

“When we were younger, we didn't make those connection points for a variety of reasons – one of which was: I was in a cult and so it was harder for me to make connections with people,” she said. “But yeah, I’m really grateful that the opportunity came up again.”

“Dinner for Vampires: Life on a Cult TV Show” is available now.