Dustin Diamond's Relationship With Dennis Haskins Was Shockingly Different Than His Feud With The Re
Highlights
- Dustin Diamond, known for his role in Saved by the Bell, was excluded from the show's reunions due to a lack of trust from his co-stars.
- Diamond wrote a damaging book about his Saved by the Bell co-stars, but later recanted the claims and apologized.
- Diamond had a close relationship with his former co-star Dennis Haskins.
At the height of Saved by the Bell's success, the show's cast became very famous even though they never came close to making millions like other TV stars. Since a generation of kids grew up watching Saved by the Bell, they rebooted the show with Jimmy Fallon's help.
Unlike Lark Voorhies who disappeared from Hollywood for tragic reasons, Saved by the Bell's Dustin Diamond tried to keep working in the business. Unfortunately for Diamond, he was excluded from the Saved by the Bells reunions, but he did have a close relationship with his former co-star Dennis Haskins.
Did Dustin Diamond Feud With His Former Saved By The Bell Co-Stars?
After Saved by the Bell became a sensation during the '90s, there were only a few people in the world who knew what it was like to star in the show. For that reason, it makes sense that many members of Saved by the Bell's cast seem like they will be bonded for life.
Sadly, however, Dustin Diamond's relationship with most of his former Saved by the Bell co-stars was far from close when he passed away. As a result, Diamond was excluded from all the reunions including the one put together by Jimmy Fallon and the revival series.
During interviews, none of Saved by the Bell's stars ever spoke about hating Diamond. Instead, they mostly expressed their hope that Diamond would recover from any struggles he had. The reason why most of Diamond's co-stars didn't have a relationship with him is they felt they couldn't trust him.
That distrust stems from a book titled "Behind the Bell" which was released under Diamond's name as an autobiography. In "Behind the Bell", a slew of scandalous claims were made about Diamond's Saved by the Bell co-stars.
Years after "Behind the Bell" was released, Diamond publicly apologized for the book. Furthermore, Diamond has said the book was full of mistruths that someone else wrote after he spoke to them very briefly.
While Diamond recanted all the claims in "Behind the Bell", the fact remains that the book was very damaging for his co-stars. With that in mind, it makes sense that most of his castmates kept their distance from him if for no other reason than to make sure Diamond didn't make any new claims about them.
How Close Were Saved By The Bell's Dustin Diamond and Dennis Haskins?
Between 1987 and the year 2000, Dustin Diamond and Dennis Haskins worked together in four different shows. Aside from the 2020 revival series, the two men appeared in every iteration of the Saved by the Bell franchise.
First off, the two actors starred in Good Morning, Miss Bliss, the show that was retooled to become Saved by the Bell. For four seasons, Haskins and Diamond co-starred in Saved the Bell together. Once the short-lived show Saved by the Bell: The College Years premiered, Diamond starred in the show and Haskins had a guest role in one episode.
Haskins and Diamond would also both appear in the franchise's two specials. In 1992 and 1994, Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style and Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas aired with both actors involved.
While Haskins and Diamond co-starred in all those projects, something changed once they worked on Saved by the Bell: The New Class together. For six seasons of that show which actually lasted longer than any other Saved by the Bell series, Diamond and Haskins became a comedy duo.
After so many years of starring in the same projects, Diamond and Haskins spent endless hours together. With that in mind, it would have been a great thing if the two actors became friends, but that wasn't necessarily going to happen.
Throughout television history, there have been many examples of co-stars who worked together for years despite hating each other. With that in mind and the fact that Diamond had a frayed relationship with many of his former Saved by the Bell co-stars, he easily could have not gotten along with Haskins.
In 2015, Dennis Haskins participated in a Reddit Ask Me Anything session. During that process, Haskins was asked a very loaded question about Diamond. "What are your feelings on Dustin Diamond and the behind-the-scenes book he wrote?"
When the book that is credited to Diamond was released, it made everyone involved with Saved by the Bell look bad. As a result, it would have been understandable if Haskins had an ax to grind when it comes to that subject.
Instead, Haskins only responded with kind words for Diamond. On top of that, Haskins wrote about the special bond he developed with Diamond after working with him for so long during the younger actor's formative years.
"I worked with Dustin Diamond from when he was 11 years old until 20. Dustin and I actually became a team on The New Class. Dustin will always have a special place with me." Haskins was later asked if a TV movie that was adapted from Diamond's book was truthful. Again, Haskins had Diamond's back.
"I will just refer you back to the last thing that Dustin has been saying - that he didn't write the book, that he had an hour conversation with somebody, who then turned around and wrote what you saw. Make your own judgments as to whether it was accurate or not. Because I did not watch it. I lived it, I didn't need to see somebody's version."
Finally, Haskins was asked about Saved by the Bell: The New Class. As part of his response, Haskins wrote about how delighted he was to become a comedy team with Diamond. "I had the most fun doing comedy as a team with Dustin."
Of course, it takes two to tango so hearing from Dennis Haskins about Dustin Diamond isn't enough. Instead, to be sure Diamond and Haskins truly were close, the former Screech actor also needed to weigh in.
After Diamond's time starring in the Saved by the Bell franchise ended, he sadly spent years struggling to get by. Between that and coverage of Diamond's broken relationship with many of his former Saved by the Bell co-stars, he rarely got asked about the good things in his life.
In 2016, Diamond made an appearance on Dr. Oz's talk show. During that show, Diamond mostly spoke about his struggles and the scandalous parts of his life. However, when Diamond was asked about his former Saved by the Bell co-stars, he confirmed that he had a close bond with Haskins and one more of his former castmates.
"Mario Lopez and I speak frequently and Dennis Haskins and I speak frequently."
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