Sports Radio Interviews

Dustin Diamond: “Girl on girl action? You definitely have to buy the book then if you are interested in those questions.”

Dustin Diamond, Screech from the hit show “Saved by the Bell,” has a new book out, “Behind the Bell”,in which he spills secrets about the show and his co-stars. “Saved by the Bell” is nearing its 20th anniversary and as you could imagine the other cast members do not want him in the reunion plans. Can you believe it? Bayside High’s lovable geek being excluded from reunion plans? The alleged steroid and drug use on the set has been denied by everyone except for “Screech.” But Diamond says the book isn’t meant to be a takedown or an attack. He’s simply tired of answering questions about the show. It’s all just water under the bridge for Diamond, who doesn’t hold any resentment toward his former castmates. He just wants to tell his side of the story and put rumors to rest.

Dustin Diamond joined 790 The Ticket in Miami to talk about what he would say to parents who have aspirations for their kids to become huge stars, whether he would rather be Dustin Diamond and not Screech, whether he has any crazy stories from the set of Saved by the Bell, who he hooked up with, if any of the big three hook up with any of the other girls, and whether steroids were on the set of “Saved by the Bell”.

On what he would say to parents who have aspirations for their kids to become huge stars:

 “Run.  Run as fast as you can.  There is nothing worse for you to do as a parent. That is bad parenting putting your child in the entertainment industry.  What are you thinking of?”

On whether he would rather be Dustin Diamond and not Screech:

 “I would be a carpenter my friend or a disco dancer.  (Host: It was that bad huh?)  No it wasn’t bad I can’t go back.  I happen to be good at what I do.  I have been performing for 24 years.  One thing you left out there because it is not televised at all that often, five days after the show ended I went on stage for the first time doing stand-up comedy.  I have been doing stand-up 47 weeks a year and I am a headlining comic all over the country.  I have had a number of different projects as you said but I will tell you man that it is rough.  It has gotten worse.  For kids now you’ve got…  We were the first live action sitcom in the world for kids.  We were up against Bugs Bunny and the Smurfs.  Then Peter Angle rode the coattails of that success and put everything Peter Angle in the mornings…  He put everything and we killed Saturday morning cartoons.  Nowadays you have got the Miley Cyrus and Hannah Montana.  We are the reason for that.  I kind of feel bad because we killed Saturday morning cartoons.  I want to turn on Saturday morning and see Bugs Bunny and Looney Tunes.  I can’t!  It’s all these child stars acting like they are the big stuff and the latest deal and rock stars.  I kind of feel bad and with YouTube and paparazzi now, forget it.  They slip up once and they are done.”

 On whether he has any crazy stories from the set of Saved by the Bell:

 “What do you think I wrote the book for my friend?  What sparked this all is I was sitting at home and I remember…  I do these TV shows.  I did Celebrity Fit Club.  I played the bad guy.  Everyone sees that as real because they have seen the reality.  I see the TV part of it.  I mean they weren’t banging down my doors to see the next bad guy and super villain on Batman.  I saw it as a chance to play the bad guy.  You did a good job at it. People come up at the end of my shows…can I get your autograph?  I take a picture with them and: I thought you were going to be mean?  Why?  Well because of that show. Everyone believes what they see on TV now.  The ‘Real World’ isn’t real.  Have you ever lived in a house with 5 strangers?  It would be boring.  Nobody talks to each other. Everyone goes and does their own thing.  What sparked this is that I was sitting at home one day and and the E! True Hollywood Story came on and they said: Up next, E! True Hollywood Story ‘Saved by the Bell’.  I went oh my goodness!  Uh oh, I better sit down and watch this.  They didn’t interview me.  What embarrassing thing are they going to show? Remember I was there for all of this.  And I am sitting down and watching it and they didn’t go into anything.  I mean the girl that accused Mario of rape that NBC had to sweep under the rug.  Any steroid use or anything that went down, all of these questions that people ask me: Who hooking up with who?  Was there drugs?  The parties?  What was it like being 12 years old an being invited to the Playboy Mansion?  Nobody ever went into any of this in the E! True Hollywood Story.  We aired… It started in November of 1998.  We aired in 1989.  It’s 2009 and it’s the 20^th anniversary.  Everybody that I know was like: Dude, you got to write a book.  So I did and that is what started all of this. If there is anything that you wanted to know for the die-hard ‘Saved by the Bell’ fan or since it came out today I have been getting a lot of different Twitters and different emails and things like that of people who have already gotten the book and started reading it who said:  As a first time author I wasn’t a big fan of your show but I like hearing you talk and reading it you area really good author.  I would like to read more from you. Which I thought was really amazing because you put a little bit of your heart and soul into each thing that you do, your craft.  So even if you aren’t a die hard fan do to amazon.com and get ‘Dustin Diamond: Behind the Bell’.  I remind you that it says: Tell All.  The internet puts all these things out there: Oh it’s a steamy bash on everybody.  No it isn’t. I put myself under the bus like everyone else.  And with libel lawyers reading the stuff and going:  Ok.  You can’t put this.  You can’t put that.  Alright that has got to go. It’s not really a tell all.  It’s a tell most.”

 On who he hooked up with?

 “That is why you got to buy the book my friend, that’s Chapter 6.  (Host: Did you hook up with one of the 3 girls on the show?)  No no no.  I stuck to the background girls…  You go to remember that you work with these girls everyday.  Once you see certain people passed around the allure wears off.  The thing is that you have to remember that I was the tag-a-long brother with these guys.  When I was 12, I was basically turning 17.  You have got a 4-5 year gap.  When you got people going sophomores in college and I am just becoming a freshman in high school.  Those are pivotal years.  One year can make a difference at that age. 4 and 5 years that is a massive difference.  So I was like the tag-a-long little brother but I was there for it all.”

 On if any of the big three hook up with any of the other girls:

 “Girl-on-girl action?  You definitely have to buy the book then if you are interested in those questions.”

 On whether steroids were on the set of ‘Saved by the Bell’:

 “You know what is funny?  People commented on that and everyone acted shocked:  Oh sex, drugs and rock-n-roll in L.A. and Hollywood?  Oh my goodness!  What is he doing? He must just be bitter.  He must be angry at the world.  No it’s Hollywood and I was there. Are people really shocked at this?  I mean you’ve said Drew Barrymore rehab at 12.  This is what Hollywood does to kids and this is what it was about.  Not enough parental guidance.  Not instruction book to guide you are or the parents on it.  Little kids making lots of money with hormones raging and too much power and too many parties and going to places where you are having people rip your clothes off.  5,000- 6,000-7,000 fan letters a week.  It was a huge time in our lives….”

Listen to Dustin Diamond on 790 the Ticket in Miami with Dan LeBetard

Tags: Behind the Bell, book, drugs, entertainment, Mario Lopez, rock and roll, Saved by the Bell, Screech, steroids, tell-all, Tiffany Amber Thiessen