“Sending all healing [to Dustin Diamond,” Elizabeth Berkley, 48, captioned the photo she posted to her Instagram Story on Jan. 19. The snap — featuring her, Dustin, and Lark Voorhies from their time on Saved By The Bell – arrived shortly after Dustin, 44, confirmed that he was battling cancer after a mysterious hospitalization. Elizabeth’s photo was a pleasant memory of the adventures that Jesse Spano, Lisa Marie Turtle, and Samuel “Screech” Powers would get up to during the NBC sitcom. It also showed that Dustin was in Elizabeth’s thoughts.
Elizabeth now joins Mario Lopez and Tiffani Thiessen in publicly wishing their former castmate a speedy recovery. “I connected with Dustin earlier this evening, and although the news of his diagnosis is heartbreaking, we remain positive that he’ll overcome this,” Mario, 47, posted to Instagram on Jan. 14. “Praying for him & his family and for a speedy recovery. God Bless.” Tiffany, 46, posted a message to her Instagram story shortly after the news broke. “Thinking of you, Dustin.”
Dustin was hospitalized in Florida over the weekend of Jan. 9. The actor had suffered pain “all over his body and a general sense of unease” and was taken to the hospital for testing. His reps confirmed the worst: it was cancer. “Dustin Will disclose more information once it is available and a plan moving forward is made,” a statement posted to his Facebook page read. “We ask everyone to respect Dustin’s privacy during this difficult time. All positivity and prayers are appreciated.” His rep later confirmed that Dustin was diagnosed with “stage four” cancer.
“No matter what stage it is, cancer is a serious issue,” the rep said to Us Weekly. “He’s doing treatments — I say treatments because it can be more than chemo — and once he’s done the treatments, which will hopefully be sometime next week, we’ll have a better idea of how bad it is and the severity of what we need to do to help him heal.”
Dustin is best known for his time on Saved By The Bell and its spin-offs, Saved By The Bell: The College Years and Saved By The Bell: The New Class. However, he was the only original member of the Saved By The Bell class not taking part in the show’s 2020 reboot on Peacock. It was Elizabeth who teased Dustin’s return to the franchise. “We’ll see if there’s another season,” she said during an episode of Watch What Happens Live. “Maybe it’s something to explore.”
