Saved By The Bell alum Dustin Diamond was hospitalized in Florida over the weekend, his representatives confirmed on Tuesday.
“It’s serious, but we don’t know how serious yet,” his team told EW. “He’s at an undisclosed hospital in Florida and will probably go home after treatments. We just want him to get well soon.”
The 44-year-old actor is best known for playing nerdy sidekick “Screech” in the original Saved By The Bell. While he did not return for the reboot, Mario Lopez’s character, Slater, did address his absence, stating, “Screech is so lucky he and Kevin get to live on the International Space Station so he doesn’t have to deal with all this.”
Lark Voorhies, who played Diamond’s character’s crush on the show, gave her take on him not returning to the show, sharing with a Toronto radio show, “He wants to be paid and respected. We would love for him to come back on set. He’s going through his growing pains… He’s going through his adult issues and all of that but I am sure he’ll be back, granted they have the perfect contract for him. I’m sure he would be back.”
While NBC’s streaming service Peacock has not yet confirmed whether the show, which recently faced backlash for poking fun at Selena Gomez’s kidney transplant, will be coming back for another season, Diamond’s team remains hopeful that he will be able to return. “They’ve been talking, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed.”
