'I'm sorry!' Dustin Diamond offers public apology to his Saved By The Bell co-stars 

By Sameer Suri For Dailymail.com

Published: 18:38 EST, 10 November 2016 | Updated: 20:43 EST, 10 November 2016

It's been 23 years since Saved By The Bell aired its finale, and its star Dustin Diamond has decided to come clean.

Appearing on The Dr Oz Show this Thursday, he apologised to his castmates on the NBC sitcom for some of his actions after the programme.

People magazine have posted clips in which he claimed he's redressing his wrongdoing by 'doing interviews like this and getting the word out there.'

Coming clean: On Thursday's episode of The Dr Oz Show, Dustin Diamond apologised to his castmates for his actions after the show ended

As the 39-year-old described it, 'This is my best weapon for repairing the damage that was caused by things that were done by people who took advantage of me in the people I was in at the time.'

He kept evading direct blame when his host listed some of those 'things' - which is to say, claims made in Diamond's dishy 2009 tell-all Behind The Bell.

The good doctor rattled off: 'You say your fellow teen co-stars were sleeping around with each other and with many guest stars on the show.'

Once upon a time: The now 39-year-old had when he was a child played 'Screech' on the NBC sitcom from 1989 to 1993

He continued: 'You allege that there were drugs, including steroid use, by Mark-Paul Gosselaar, who played Zack, who was a good friend of yours on the show.'

When Oz referred to the 'claims' as 'upsetting,' Diamond concurred: 'Upsetting not just to the other cast members - upsetting to me as well.'

Per Diamond: 'As it turns out, the general public doesn't realise I didn't write the book. I had a ghostwriter.'

The way we were: Diamond's (centre) co-stars included Mario Lopez (right) and Mark-Paul Gosselaar (left), whom the San Jose native subsequently accused of using drugs in his 2009 tell-all Behind The Bell

Saved By The Bell ran from 1989 to 1993 and starred Diamond and Gosselaar amid a principal cast that included Mario Lopez, Elizabeth Berkley, Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, Dennis Haskins and Lark Voorhies.

Diamond's had a fairly checkered personal life in the interim. Last year, he served three months in prison after being arrested when he drew a switchblade during a bar fight. This year, he briefly wound up back inside for violating his probation.

In 2006, the man who played 'Screech' on the NBC hit had put out a sex tape called Screeched: Saved By The Smell.

The old gang: Other stars had included Elizabeth Berkeley, Lark Voorhies and Tiffani-Amber Thiessen

Years later, he told Oprah Winfrey's programme Where Are They Now? he'd done it for the money and used 'a stunt person to take my place. It's my face, but nothing else. Looking back now, in my thirties, I realise that was really dumb.'

On Thursday, he looked back on his life with Dr Oz and said to any castmates watching: 'Guys, I think you're fantastic. Working with you has been a - it's one of the icons of my life, and I'm sorry that this has taken advantage of me.'

He countered that 'I'm sure that you've experienced downfalls as well in your time, and I'm still loving you guys.'

Backhanded: On The Dr Oz Show, the Good Morning, Miss Bliss actor also told his erstwhile co-stars that 'I'm sure you've experienced downfalls as well in your time, and I'm still loving you guys'

 

 

 

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