Mario Lopez (A.C. Slater) took a trip down memory lane with former "Saved by the Bell" co-star Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Zack Morris).
Mario Lopez - Saved By The Bell alumni
Hollywood, CA, USA © Lee Roth / RothStock / PR Photos
The TV show is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Gosselaar tells “Extra” that “I watch it with my son. I watch it with my wife. And I enjoy it.”
As for love connections on the set of SBTB, Gosselaar admits, “We kind of dated them [the female cast members] in a way, but it was an innocent way of dating.
Gosselaar shared with Lopez that he was surprised by the show’s initial success and even more shocked by its popularity today.
He says, “We never thought the show was going to get picked up…It’s cool now to watch Saved By The Bell. It’s become an icon.”
Lopez added, “The crazy thing is, I think it’s a bigger phenomenon now that it’s ever been…I find it very bizarre that so many guys give it so much attention because in college it has a cult following. It’s like, ‘Oh, man. I played drinking games to you! Every time you say, ‘Preppy,’ I do a shot.’ I quite don’t know how to react.”
-Now starring in the hit drama, "Raising the Bar," Gosselaar is a rare child-star success story.
SBTB co-star Dustin Diamond had to resort to selling T-shirts to raise money in order to save his home. Gosselaar tried helping his old friend saying, “I bought a T-shirt and I never got it. I actually bought two of them!” As for Diamond’s rumored tell-all book about the days of SBTB, Gosselaar comments, “I’m actually looking forward to the book. I think it’ll be interesting.”
Lopez asks Gosselaar if he plans to lace up his dancing shoes and appear on "Dancing With The Stars."
Gosselaar responds, “We [family] watched you religiously every single week…I could never do that though because people would compare us…You’ve always been a great dancer…I’m a white boy. I can not dance.”
“Extra’s” interview with Mark Paul Gosselaar airs on Friday, September 26th.
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