Saved by the Bell star Mark-Paul Gosselaar feels ‘awful’ for Quiet on Set stars: 'That's not how our set was run'

Numerous Nickelodeon stars have come forward with allegations of abuse and a toxic work environment in the new Investigation Discovery docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV — but not every show with young actors had the same problems.

In an interview with Page Six, Mark-Paul Gosselaar said that he sympathizes with the Nick stars who endured difficulties on their respective projects, but attested that Saved by the Bell kept its young actors safe and secure. “I feel really, really awful for them having gone through that,” Gosselaar, who played Zack Morris on the hit series for four seasons on NBC, told the outlet. “I couldn’t relate because that’s not how our set was run at all.”

Gosselaar expressed his gratitude toward the Saved by the Bell team for its professionalism. “As a cast, I think we’re all pretty unscathed in a way,” he said. “We had good family, good producers protecting us, good teachers, so I feel awful that anyone had to go through that, especially children.”

The actor, who also starred on NYPD Blue and Franklin & Bash, said that he’s not necessarily surprised that the Hollywood machine allowed some of its talent to slip through the cracks. “The only thing I can say from my experience is I was very aware of it being a business and people will do anything for the bottom line at times,” he said.

Other former cast members from children’s and teen TV shows have also expressed their sympathy toward the Quiet on Set stars while also saying that they personally didn’t experience any abuse. 

Ned’s Declassified star Devon Werkheiser said “We experienced [showbusiness] still in a safe enough environment. It wasn’t scary to talk to Scott [Fellows, Ned’s Declassified’s creator]. We had the normal pressure that a kid actor has, but knowing this is what our f---ing people were going through on other sets is f---ed.” Meanwhile, Lisa Lisa, who starred on Nickelodeon’s Taina, said, “ I didn’t experience any of that… I do know who those people are, and I’m so sorry about that.”

All five episodes of Quiet on Set are streaming on Max.

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