Dustin Diamond Addicted To Doritos

by Mo Diggs

In Season 2, Episode 9 of Saved By The Bell, entitled Jessie's Song, Jessie (Elizabeth Berkley) develops a seemingly unshakable addiction to caffeine pills. Screech (Dustin Diamond(, the Brillo-headed comic relief, makes an off-handed comment of being addicted to Doritos. Beneath the tip of that glacier were endless reserves of pain and struggle: Dustin Diamond was indeed indulging in Dorito binges backstage, living the life of yet another child star cliche.

During a break from shooting the first episode of Saved By The Bell, Diamond heard Casey Kasem giggling in the bathroom with Lark Voorhies. When an increasingly jealous Diamond swung open the bathroom stall door, he reportedly saw Kasem snorting Dorito powder off Voorhies' supple cafe au lait breasts. Thus the downward spiral began.

Mario Lopez was the first to notice Diamond's increasingly erratic behavior on the set. "D-Rock was showing up late to work," Lopez recalls. "When he did show up, I noticed him dipping a tiny spoon into a 99 cent Cool Ranch Doritos bag and snorting off the spoon." Diamond surprised everyone-even Voorhies-when he tried to legally change his name to Dorito Dustin' Diamond.

His voracious appetite continued well after The Bell was off the air. In 2007, he decided to get help by joining Celebrity Fit Club. Using an experimental Dorito anti-addictive called cocaine, he kicked the habit. Now Dustin Diamond is back in the spotlight as a world-class asshole-all because he brought his addiction to a screech-ing halt after realizing life was as precious as a diamond.