Mark-Paul Gosselaar Feels ‘Awful’ About Quiet on Set Allegations but Is Thankful He Came Out ‘Unscathed’ as Teen Actor

The ‘Saved by the Bell’ alum weighed in on the allegations Drake Bell and other Nickelodeon stars have made against the network in the new docuseries

Mark-Paul Gosselaar attends the “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” 25th Anniversary Celebration at Edge at Hudson Yards on January 16, 2024 in New York City. PHOTO: 

ARTURO HOLMES/WIREIMAGE

Mark-Paul Gosselaar considers himself lucky for coming out “unscathed” from his time as a child actor.

The Saved by the Bell alum, 50, told Page Six that he feels “really, really awful” for the Nickelodeon child stars who were allegedly subject to abusive treatment under Dan Schneider’s helm, which was explored in Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, though he has not watched the docuseries himself.

Gosselaar noted that he “couldn’t relate” to the experiences of stars like Drake Bell, because “that’s not how our set was run at all.”

“As a cast, I think we’re all pretty unscathed in a way,” he said of the Saved By the Bell cast, which also included the late Dustin Diamond, Mario Lopez, Tiffani Thiessen, Elizabeth Berkley and Lark Voorhies. “We had good family, good producers protecting us, good teachers, so I feel awful that anyone had to go through that, especially children.”

Gosselaar added, though, that he was “very aware” during his time on the sitcom, which aired from 1989 to 1992, that the show was “a business and people will do anything for the bottom line at times.”

The cast of ‘Saved by the Bell’.

NBCU PHOTO BANK/NBCUNIVERSAL VIA GETTY IMAGE

In Quiet on Set, Bell, 37, known for his starring role in Drake & Josh, revealed that he was repeatedly sexually assaulted by his dialogue coach, Brian Peck, during his time at Nickelodeon. He met Peck during his time on The Amanda Show in 2000, and after his parents divorced, he began spending more and more time with Peck, who he said would sometimes drive him to auditions in L.A., leading Bell to spend the night at his house.

One night, as Bell recounted in the docuseries, he woke up to Peck “sexually assaulting” him.

“And it just got worse, and worse, and worse, and worse, and I was just trapped. I had no way out. The abuse was extensive and it got pretty brutal,” Bell recounted in the docuseries.

In 2004, Peck was convicted for his crimes and pleaded no contest to a charge of oral copulation with a minor under 16 as well as a charge of performing a lewd act with a 14- or 15-year-old. In addition to his 16-month sentence, Peck was mandated to register as a sex offender. Bell’s identity as the victim was not made public at the time since he was a minor.

Drake Bell. GETTY IMAGES

Among the other allegations made in the docuseries included that All That alums Bryan Hearne and Giovonnie Samuel had experiences they found traumatic as there were very few Black actors on the network.

“I was referred to as a ‘piece of charcoal’ [by an adult],” Hearne told PEOPLE and also said in the docuseries. “Remarks like that are harmful. They stay with you.”

He also recounted a scene where he was covered in peanut butter for dogs to lick off when he was 13-year-old on Nickelodeon’s On-Air Dare, which he recalled as “really uncomfortable” and made him feel like he was “part of this torture chamber.”