"Saved by the Bell" captured a seemingly innocent era, but things weren't as carefree behind
the scenes for these budding young stars.
Which cast member needed a restraining order for their ex?
Who died tragically young?
Here are the heart-breaking details about the cast of "Saved by the Bell."
The most popular cheerleader in school, Kelly Kapowski, was the archetypal '90s it-girl,
perfectly embodied by Tiffani Thiessen.
Her chirpy demeanor enamored viewers, and, of course, her long-time beau Zack Morris.
"Kelly, Do you realize we've been going steady for 68 days, 14 hours and 37 minutes?"
"Err, 38 minutes, Zack.
But then again, who's counting?"
But beneath that plucky veneer, Thiessen has endured devastating loss.
Thiessen and fellow TV star David Strickland were an item in the late '90s.
Strickland was best known for his role as Todd on the sitcom "Suddenly Susan" and, with
his pretty boy looks, he could have been on his way to A-list heartthrob status.
Sadly, that all came to an end in March 1999.
The pair had only been dating for six months when Strickland took his own life.
According to Los Angeles Magazine, Thiessen and Strickland went for dinner a few days
before his death, and he was supposed to accompany her to an Oscars party over the weekend.
But Strickland didn't show up.
He ended up partying with comedian Andy Dick, before being found dead in a Las Vegas hotel
room.
He was just 29.
Although Thiessen didn't comment on her former boyfriend's death, Strickland's passing made
a devastating impact on those who knew him.
A director told TV Guide,
"He wasn't the cast member anybody worried about — the one who was late, or difficult,
or who had problems and got special treatment.
He was just nice and sweet and funny."
Along with her role as Kelly Kapowski, Tiffani Thiessen was famed for starring on teen drama
"Beverly Hills, 90210" as the charming yet conniving Valerie Malone.
But unlike her "Saved by the Bell" family, Thiessen's "90210" co-stars did not welcome
her onto the set with open arms.
In particular, Thiessen called out fellow '90s it-girl Jennie Garth while speaking to
Howard Stern.
"When I first started 90210, the girls were not very nice to me when I came onto the show."
However, the on-set animosity eventually waned, and she and Garth became close pals.
Thiessen was even present when Garth gave birth to her first child.
But it wasn't long before their reconciliation grew sour.
Thiessen told Stern,
"We had a falling out and we kind of grew apart.
[…] I was the one who was hurt, let's just say that.
[…] It's funny, our relationship started really rough and ended the way it started."
In 2017, Garth and fellow "90210" and "Saved by the Bell" alum Tori Spelling went on to
throw shade at Thiessen when they were judges on "RuPaul's Drag Race."
During a segment in which the contestants parodied "Beverly Hills, 90210," Garth seemingly
couldn't say Tiffani's name.
"As Ti—, how do you say it?
Bethenny."
"Just say, 'That which we don't speak of.'"
Garth later told Us Magazine that the skit was edited in a misleading way.
Regardless of what Garth may claim, we wouldn't blame Thiessen for telling her to sashay away.
Screech was often the butt of the joke on "Saved by the Bell," and the borderline bullying
he faced at the hands of his pals would, without doubt, be unacceptable today.
Akin to Screech, the actor who played him, Dustin Diamond, led a troubled and tragic
life.
According to the Mirror, Diamond filed for bankruptcy in 2000, when he was in his early
20s, amid claims that his parents stole all his cash.
Subsequently, in 2006, he was reduced to selling Screech shirts to save his house from foreclosure,
per Chron.
In 2016, Page Six reported that he owed $94,000 in unpaid taxes.
That year, he was sent to jail for violating his probation, having been incarcerated two
years earlier for allegedly stabbing a man.
Reflecting on his numerous past indiscretions, Diamond opened up to Oprah during a "Where
Are They Now?"
segment.
He admitted,
"I didn't really know what I was gonna do.
You know, it was hard to get work that wasn't Screech clone stuff."
"I felt lost.
As I mature, I realize, 'Wow, I was kinda going through my rebellious teens in my 20s.'"
Former co-star Tiffani Thiessen has shed some light on Diamond's troubled life and expressed
sympathy for him.
She told Howard Stern she felt sorry for Diamond.
"...he had a very hard childhood.
He didn't have a great relationship with his father.
His mother passed away when he was young."
Screech never quite fit in with his Bayside pals and it appears that life imitated art.
When Andy Cohen asked Mark-Paul Gosselaar when he last spoke to Dustin Diamond, the
actor laughed and said it was 1994.
“Wow.”
"Well, it's the truth!
I'm not making anything up."
On the "Zack to the Future" podcast, Gosselaar clarified,
"It's no secret that the rest of the cast wasn't very close with Dustin."
In his memoir, "Just Between Us," Mario Lopez confirmed that Diamond was an outsider.
He wrote,
"Not everyone got along with Screech AKA Dustin Diamond.
I did, but maybe I was the exception.
He was one of those dorky kids who thought it was hilarious to take polaroids of his
genitals and leave the photos all over the set."
"So tell me, buddy, what other pictures do you see?"
"I see… nerds."
This outsider status was something that Diamond knew all too well.
Although he released a tell-all book in 2009, which he later claimed was ghostwritten, his
ostracization predates this unfortunate literary faux pas.
Diamond spoke about it to Mario Lopez in an "Extra" interview.
"I haven't seen Mark-Paul since I was 16."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I haven't seen Tiffani or Elizabeth since then either.
You know, I'm 39.
It's been a minute!"
Reflecting on the "Saved by the Bell" reunion, he shared with Lopez that he felt left out.
“Oh, I wish I could have been a part of it.
You know, I didn't know that was going on until it was already done."
In January 2021, fans were devastated when Dustin Diamond revealed he had been diagnosed
with stage 4 cancer.
According to TMZ, he was first hospitalized after suffering from severe body aches and
then began a course of chemotherapy.
On January 23rd, his final Instagram post, written by someone on his behalf, read,
"The stage 4 small cell carcinoma diagnosis is definitely not what we were hoping for.
However Dustin is being treated and fighting this."
A few weeks after his diagnosis, Diamond died of metastatic cancer, which had spread to
his lungs, as reported by TMZ.
He was just 44.
His numerous "Saved by the Bell" castmates paid tribute to him.
In a statement to TV Line, Mark-Paul Gosselaar said,
"I'm deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Dustin Diamond, a true comedic genius...
I will miss those raw, brilliant sparks that only he was able to produce.
A pie in your face, my comrade."
Lark Voorhies paid tribute to what she referred to as their "warm and special friendship,"
calling the late star "a caring gentleman."
Meanwhile, his on screen love interest Tori Spelling wrote,
"Before there was David and Donna, there was Screech and Violet.
Dustin was my first on-screen kiss.
He welcomed me with open arms onto the set of 'Saved by the Bell.'"
Tiffani Thiessen, Mario Lopez, and Elizabeth Berkley openly mourned his passing, with the
latter calling Diamond "a truly gifted talent."
Louan Gideon may have only appeared in "Saved By the Bell" twice, but she made a lasting
impression on fans.
As Becky, the wife of Mr. Belding, Gideon was hilarious in the Season 5 episode "Earthquake,"
in which she gives birth in an elevator after a series of comical false alarms.
Though this plot line has served as the basis for one of Funny or Die's "Zack Morris Is
Trash" episodes, Gideon herself was a master of her craft.
A kids' TV staple, Gideon appeared on classic shows such as "The Secret World of Alex Mack"
and "Sabrina the Teenage Witch."
Sadly, her life and career came to an end all too soon when she died of breast cancer
in 2014, at the age of 58.
According to a tribute in the Citizen Times, Gideon was a force to be reckoned with.
A cancer awareness campaigner, she refused to wear a wig when she made public appearances
whilst undergoing chemotherapy.
Although she had seemingly recovered from cancer in 2009, her obituary notes the illness
unfortunately returned within a few years.
Husband Walt Borchers, whom she wed on November 11, 2011, recalled his wife's bittersweet
final moment.
Borchers told the Citizen Times,
"As she was dying, she took her last breath on 11:11.
It was beautiful.
We knew it would be a sign.
We were all like, oh my god — it was a perfect stage exit."
Since the "Saved by the Bell" stars were literal children when the show began, they scarcely
had a say in financial matters.
Alas, this is something that rings all too true for many a child actor; from Macaulay
Culkin to Lindsay Lohan, there have been far too many adolescent stars who were swindled
out of their hard earned dough.
In the case of the "Saved by the Bell" actors, it would appear that producers exploited their
naivete for their own means and left them with little cash as a result.
"So, did you get more tips?"
"Yeah, I got a tip.
Alan Seltzer told me to get another job."
During an interview with Howard Stern, Thiessen joked that the actors hardly got paid at all.
Stern asked the erstwhile Kelly Kapowski if she had been raking in the "big bucks" from
the show.
"No, no, no!
I wasn't Disney Channel kid.
No, not at all actually.
It was crappy money."
And Thiessen isn't wrong.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, co-star Mario Lopez, who played macho kid Slater,
made just $3,500 an episode.
Meanwhile, when Andy Cohen asked Mark-Paul Gosselaar, AKA Zack Morris, whether he was
raking in any money from royalties, the actor replied simply, saying, "We're not."
After refuting any notion that he was able to lead an A-list lifestyle from residuals,
he explained,
"We made really bad deals.
Poor deals, back then."
"It is what it is.
And you know, you move on, you learn."
Lisa Turtle was the girl boss of Bayside High, always immaculately turned out in her neon
power suits and attracting the hottest hunks.
Alas, Lark Voorhies, who expertly brought Lisa to life, has not been as lucky in love.
In 2015, Vorhies married Jimmy Green.
The pair called it quits after just a few months.
But the heartbreak didn't end there; Voorhies was betrayed by Green horrifically.
In 2016, Green attempted to sell an intimate tape without Voorhies' consent and even gloated
about it to Radar Online, telling the outlet,
"Ain't nobody seen Lark like that!"
He added that he would consider selling it, quote, "If somebody offered me $2 million."
Green claimed his ex consented to the filming of the tape.
Even if Voorhies did agree, distributing and selling a sex tape without a partner's consent
is considered revenge porn and a form of domestic abuse according to Domestic Shelters.
Voorhies told People,
"As far as a sex tape I am not aware of nor have I consented to any sex tape or nude recordings."
Of the ordeal, Voorhies reportedly wrote on Instagram,
"There's an active restraining order that he continues to violate.
No sex tape even physically exists.
Do you really think he could afford a camera?"
However, she has since claimed that her account was hacked.
Lark Voorhies has opened up about her diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder.
Tragically, she believes that her illness is the reason why she was initially written
out of the "Saved By the Bell" reunions.
Voorhies' mom, Tricia, previously told People that her daughter had bipolar disorder, which
turned out to be incorrect.
Tricia said back in 2012,
"There are things that have traumatized her."
At the time, Voorhies told ET that she didn't have a mental health condition.
However, she has since openly discussed her diagnosis, which is reflective of changing
attitudes toward mental illness.
Appearing on "Doctor Oz," Voorhies discussed living with schizoaffective disorder, which
she likened to numerous competing voices inside her brain.
A 2019 psychiatric study defined schizoaffective disorder as a chronic illness that consists
of sudden mood changes and "symptoms characteristic of schizophrenia, such as delusions, hallucinations,
or disorganized speech."
When Oz asked Voorhies if she wished she had been included in the "Saved By the Bell" reunions,
the actor read a moving extract from a statement she wrote.
"I have to admit I did feel a bit slighted and hurt when I was not invited to be part
of the 'Saved by the Bell' reunion…"
She went on to say that she realized her disorder might have played a major part in that decision.
Thankfully, Voorhies shared on Instagram that she was invited to appear on the series reboot
in 2020 and has already appeared in three episodes.
"Listen guys, we can't let them get away with this."
"And we won't.
This is sexist pigism of the worst kind."
Jessie Spano was arguably the feminist icon of her time, which is why it surprised fans
when Elizabeth Berkley took on a role than was decidedly un-Jessie.
Life took an awful turn for Berkley in 1995, after she starred in the widely panned box
office bomb "Showgirls."
The reviews were brutal, with Entertainment Weekly lamenting,
"As an actress, Berkley is, to put it mildly, limited.
She has exactly two emotions: hot and bothered."
Not only did her agent drop her as a result, but Berkley quickly saw her Hollywood dreams
dashed: she has not had a major film role since the flop.
An insider suggested that the backlash may have been rooted in sexism.
They told the Los Angeles Times,
"[The criticism] all smells kind of foul to me.
She's been getting the blame for this movie and it's so unfair.
She is an innocent."
It should be noted that Berkley was a mere 21 years old at the time.
Berkely says she feels like she was driven out of show business.
She told People,
"Of course it was disappointing that it didn't do well, but there was so much cruelty around
it.
I was bullied.
And I didn't understand why I was being blamed.
[…] No one associated with the film spoke up on my behalf to protect me."
Leah Remini appeared in six episodes of "Saved By the Bell," as Zack's love interest Stacey.
Her stint on the sitcom was a delight, but her life behind the scenes was anything but
a casual day at the Malibu Sands Beach Resorts.
Remini has devoted her life to exposing her alleged mistreatment at the hands of the Church
of Scientology, which she left in 2013.
Despite parting ways with the organization, Remini claims that she and her family continue
to be harassed.
She told LaPalme Magazine,
"Members of the Church go to my mother's restaurant, confront my little sister, and my step kids
in San Francisco, trying to intimidate us…
These abusive scare tactics are what they call a religion!"
The "King of Queens" star also developed an Emmy-winning A&E series that takes the church
head on.
When she was a child, Remini was allegedly subjected to humiliation by the Church after
joining the Sea Org sect.
“You have to run everywhere you go.
You have to call everyone 'sir'.
It's pretty severe punishment for an adult, not to mention a child."
.. In her memoir, "Troublemaker," she recounted
a time an adult member of the church took her out on a boat on the ocean and threw her
into the water.
She wrote,
"I thought I was going to drown."
The Church of Scientology categorically denies Remini's allegations.
Tori Spelling played Screech's soulmate Violet Bickerstaff on "Saved By the Bell," providing
the oft-derided character with some much-needed happiness.
But Spelling's life would later take a turn for the worse when her husband, Dean McDermott,
cheated on her.
In 2013, Us Magazine reported that McDermott had a fling with Emily Goodhand, who is 19
years his junior.
To rub salt in the wound, Goodhand dished on the pair's tryst to the outlet.
Detailing her hotel room encounter with McDermott, Goodhand claimed,
"He told me he and Tori had a sexless marriage."
McDermott addressed his infidelity on the "Daddy Issues" podcast in 2019.
He explained,
"I've cheated and it's so not about the person you're with...
It was about inadequacies with myself...
I needed to do that to feel some kind of power."
The cheating was particularly painful for Spelling since her "biggest fear" was the
prospect of McDermott cheating on her.
She explained her reaction on the "Women on Top" podcast in 2020.
"I always thought from day one he was gonna cheat on me.
And it wasn't about him, that was about me.
And I was like, 'Okay, I know I'm not good enough.'"
Although she told the hosts that she had mended her relationship with McDermott, the following
year a source informed ET that the couple were again "going through a rough patch" and
that things weren't great between them.
Being a child star isn't all rosy.
One sad reality that many have to deal with is losing out on youth.
The "Saved by the Bell" actors were treated like adults despite being kids, and the trauma
that came with it is something Mark-Paul Gosselaar has reflected on.
As he told People,
"The rejection that you deal with as a kid, I thought it was pretty blunt growing up,
like, the reasons for why you didn't get [the role].
They're like, 'Eh, they just didn't like your look.'"
And the director was saying, 'The minute you walk through these double doors leading onto
the stage, you're no longer a child anymore, you're an adult.'"
Tiffani Thiessen told Howard Stern that, during her time on "Saved by the Bell," she began
dating a 19-year-old man when she was 14, to which Stern replied that it was "a miracle"
her father didn't kill him.
Speaking with Us Magazine, Thiessen said,
"I didn’t find it to be that strange, maybe because growing up in the business [...] So
it didn’t feel that odd to me.”
Additionally, Dustin Diamond opened up to Oprah about the struggles that come with being
a household name when you're still a kid.
He poignantly reflected,
"The hardest thing about being a child star is giving up your childhood.
You don't get a childhood."
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide
Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK.
That’s 1-800-273-8255.