Mark-Paul Gosselaar limits on-screen romance because of his marriage
Saved By The Bell star Mark-Paul Gosselaar has joked his wife needs "earmuffs, an eye mask and the whole thing" if he has an intimate scene on screen.
Mark-Paul Gosselaar likes to "forewarn" his wife about any of his romantic on-screen roles.
The 52-year-old actor, who rose to fame as Zack Morris in Saved By The Bell, has reflected on his 2016 series Pitch, which saw viewers pulling for a relationship between his and Kylie Bunbury's characters.
He told Us Weekly: "Whether there would be a connection between [Mike] and Ginny? That I don’t know. I think they would always sort of keep that [under wraps]."
However, Mark-Paul made it clear he wouldn't have been the one to suggest the romantic twist.
He quipped: "No, no, no. Then I gotta go home and explain that to my wife. It’s never a good thing.
"Anytime there’s any sort of moment of intimacy, I always have to forewarn my wife that this is coming up.
"She needs earmuffs, an eye mask and the whole thing anytime I have to be intimate with anybody on screen.”
Father-of-four Mark-Paul has been married to Catriona McGinn since 2012, and they have two children together.
He previously insisted that his family always come first, ahead of his career.
He told The Jennifer Hudson Show in 2025: “I always say this: ‘I’m a husband first, a father second [and an] actor third'.
"My day revolves around making sure my wife is good [and] making sure the kids are good.
“I feel so blessed that I have a job, and I get to do what I do because I love what I do.
"But I just see myself as a husband and a father and that’s my day. And [my family] could care less [about] what I do.”
Mark-Paul isn't the first actor to try to limit romantic roles because of their real-life relationship.
Penn Badgley requested fewer intimate scenes for Netflix hit You as the show went on, which was a decision he made for his own "mental health", rather than a request from his wife Domino Kirke.
Speaking on his Stitcher Studios podcast Podcrushed, he said: "I asked Sera Gamble, the creator, 'can I just do no more intimacy scenes?' This is actually a decision I had made before I took the show.
"I don't think I had ever mentioned it publicly, but one of the main things is like, do I want to put myself back in a career path where I'm just always a romantic lead?
"Like, fidelity, in every relationship, and especially my marriage, is important to me. And it just got to that point where I don't want to do that."
