May 19, 2016
Dustin Diamond's Message for His Former 'Saved by the Bell' Castmates
Dustin Diamond broke his silence to “Extra's” Mario Lopez in our headline-making, news-breaking interview, and now he's telling his former “Saved by the Bell” co-star about the fall out from his tell all memoir, “Behind the Bell.”
Dustin, who played Screech opposite Mario's A.C. Slater in the hit show, made some wild claims in the book about drugs, affairs and threesomes on set.
The actor claims that the memoir, which destroyed his relationship with his co-stars, was made up by a ghostwriter.
Diamond told Mario that he hasn't seen the cast in ages. “I haven't seen Mark-Paul [Gosselaar] since I was 16… I haven't seen Tiffani [Thiessen] or Elizabeth [Berkley] either. I'm 39. It's been a minute.”
When Mario asked what he would like to say to the cast, Diamond said, “I would just like to give them a hug and tell them all how proud I am of them and what they've been doing and ask for forgiveness for any misunderstandings that may have come about by the book.”
Dustin was excluded from the 'Bell' reunions in People magazine. “Everyone started telephoning me. 'Oh, he wasn't invited. No one wants him there. No one likes him.'”
He was also left out of the “Tonight Show” reunion with Jimmy Fallon. “I wish I could have been a part of it… I didn't know it was going on until it was done. I thought it was funny. I thought it was great.”
Since the show, it has been hard for Diamond to break out of the Screech stereotype.
“How do you come off a such phenom role of this Screech character and then break out of that mold and do something different?” he asked.
He continued, “I'd audition and every single time they'd say we loved it but we saw too much Screech in it and I cant change my bone structure I mean what do you want me to do?”
Now, he's looking ahead to the future. “I want a family. I want kids. I want my wife, we make it legit and official. I want to put the tomfoolery and malarkey behind me. Time for that clean slate. Time for the change.”