Re: Saved by the Bell Filming in Fairfax County......?
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Date: September 29, 2009 01:27PM
Call that a scandal? Dustin Diamond alleges pot-smoking, hookups in 'Saved By the Bell' book
BY Amy Eisinger
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Sunday, September 27th 2009, 9:08 AM
Dustin Diamond tells of pot smoking and hookups among the teenage cast in his 'Saved By the Bell' tell-all, but no one seems impressed.
These not-so-shocking revelations come from Dustin Diamond's new tell-all book about the classic Saturday morning TV series "Saved by the Bell," according to Us Weekly magazine.
Diamond, who played the goofy character, Screech, reveals that there was rampant pot smoking and lots of sex behind closed doors in his book, "Behind the Bell," which hits stores next Tuesday.
Diamond, who filed for bankruptcy in 2001 and released a sex tape in 2006, went so far as to name names when it came to the off-screen romances.
"If Kelly [Tiffani-Amber Thiessen] was interested in Slater [Mario Lopez] one week, then backstage there was a lot going between them in Mario [Lopez]'s room," Diamond, 32, told Us Weekly. "Then, if Jessie [Elizabeth Berkley] kisses Zack [Mark-Paul Gosselaar], then you know Elizabeth Berkley is going in Mark-Paul's room."
But that's not where it ends. Diamond also alleges that his co-star Gosselaar, who played the all-American heartthrob Zack Morris, used steroids to bulk up before he started production for the short-lived follow-up series, "Saved by the Bell: The College Years."
Gosselaar, however, adamantly denies these claims. "We weren't in rehab and Mr. Belding wasn't my crack dealer," the 35-year-old actor told Us Weekly.
But Diamond is sticking by his story. "He suddenly exploded with manliness, loading 25 pounds of muscle on his once-scrawny frame in, oh, about a month."
The former snitch - er, Screech - also says, "I could smell a certain 'smoke,' wafting from the crack" underneath his castmates' dressing room doors. Diamond also claims that Thiessen used men to further her career and that Lopez basically hooked up with every guest star on the show, according to Us Weekly.
Though the rest of the cast has yet to speak out about the book, Gosselaar blew off Diamond's tell-all in a June interview with Newsweek magazine, saying he had zero concern about rumors of a "Saved by the Bell" book.
"What is he going to say?" Gosselaar asked Newsweek, referring to Diamond. "We were banging groupies at 14? I can't wait to read his book, because I don't have a memory of a lot of the shows. Maybe it was because I was doing lines off of the audience members' asses. I'm sure he's going to write something crazy like that."
The actor went on to say he wasn't worried about the book and didn't have too many skeletons in his closet. "The truth is," Gosselaar told Newsweek, "we were good people and good to each other. We were innocent, naïve kids. We were not jaded."
When asked about Diamond's supposed $14,000 tax debt and sex tape, however, the former Zack Morris didn't have much to add. He told Newsweek that the two were no longer close, saying "I don't know where his head is. I know probably as much as you know from watching things on TV. It's entertaining as hell. But it's not great."
In July, five of the six original cast members appeared on the cover of People magazine in an exclusive cover shoot and "reunion" interview. Perhaps it comes as no surprise that the only one missing was Dustin Diamond.