Saved By The Bell icon Mario Lopez reveals paltry residuals that are 'sometimes less than the postage'

While actors from Seinfeld, Friends, and Everybody Loves Raymond are still raking in millions off residuals, the cast of Saved By The Bell may only be receiving a check worth less than a dollar. 

Recently, Saved By The Bell star Tiffani Thiessen revealed her residuals from the 90s show were worth less than the cost to 'print the check' - a claim backed up by former co-star Mario Lopez.

'Real talk!' he tweeted in response to her claims at the time.

Now, in a new interview with The Daily Mail, Lopez has shed more light on the realities of post-show earnings and how his Saved By The Bell residuals are worth 'sometimes less than the postage.' 

'A lot of people think just 'cause you come out of TV and stuff, you're set,' he told The Daily Mail during The Alma Academy in Las Vegas earlier this month. 'That's not always the case. Not everybody's making that sort of Seinfeld, Friends-type money from that era.' 

When asked about Thiessen's remarks, Lopez, 53, said: 'She wasn't lying, I'll tell you that! We always sort of laugh about it, so that's why when they quoted her, you know, I found it humorous because we always sort of laugh about it.'

Lopez said he was surprised to see that his tweet about Thiessen's residuals remarks had made headlines: 'I didn't think it was going to get picked up everywhere when I just kind of retweeted it. 

'But you know, it was a long time ago, Saturday morning,' he added of Saved By The Bell. 

Lopez acknowledged they were young actors who didn't get 'the best deal' but credits the show for opening many doors for him.  

'I have nothing but pleasant memories and a great experience, but... we were kids and it wasn't the best deal, and looking back, but it provided a lot of the opportunities that I'm able to kind of have today.'

Saved By The Bell aired on Saturday mornings on NBC and not primetime - which may have also been the reason for their lower salaries.

'It was also Saturday morning too,' he said. 'Wasn't primetime, I think that was the big difference too.' 

Indeed, while actors who starred in primetime shows from the 90s are still be pulling in millions, it's a different story for the cast of Saved By The Bell.  

When asked if they still receive residuals, Lopez said: 'We do, it's just sometimes less than the postage.'

Thiessen recently reinvigorated the conversation about residuals when she admitted to Page Six Radio that she barely receives any money from her days on Saved By The Bell. 

'I don't think for Saved By The Bell anymore, I think it's dried out,' she told Page Six Radio when asked about residuals. 'It’s like, negative now. It probably costs more to print the check.' 

Asked if they ever tried negotiating their salaries, she said: 'When we went primetime for one season, we got a little bit more.'

'I didn’t start making real money until I went to 90210.'

Thiessen, who was still early in her acting career when she joined Saved By The Bell, admitted they had no 'pull' on the show.

'We didn’t have pull on that show at all. We made nothing and we just did our job,' she said. 

The remarks eventually made their way to Lopez, who tweeted of them: 'Real talk!' 

While the cast of Saved By The Bell may not be raking in the cash, there are success stories of actors who are now living comfortably off a show they starred in years earlier.  

Two And A Half Men star Jon Cryer recently told Page Six he is still receiving an income stream from the show that allows him to never have to 'worry about making your rent every month.' 

'But it’s not [from] residuals as much,” he said. 'Although, there is still, there are still residual payments that are substantial. It’s mostly because over the course of the years, I was able to get some percentage of the show.'

Meanwhile, Friends star Lisa Kudrow revealed the cast earn a whooping $20M a year from reruns of their show while Everybody Loves Raymond star Ray Romano earns up to $18 million annually in syndication residuals.

Seinfeld's Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, who each had 15 percent ownership of the show's backend profits, made up to $400m every time their show was syndicated, according to New York Magazine. 

Lopez continued acting after Saved By The Bell and found his way into television hosting on both Extra and Access Hollywood - the ladder of which recently ended after 30 years.

Since September 1996, Access Hollywood has been providing entertainment news to the masses with big names such as Billy Bush, Maria Menounos, and Natalie Morales serving as correspondents over the years. 

Lopez joined Access Hollywood in 2019 and remains 'grateful' for everyone he worked with. 

'It was an awesome experience between Extra and Access. It was twenty years, and I love it, and grateful for everybody that I worked with, and still very much keep in touch, and still working with a lot, and still at Universal. 

'I still have my nationally syndicated radio show that I do with my wife [Courtney Lopez] there, On with Mario, we're about to do a morning one as well, and then another entertainment show with Universal. So it's like I can't get out of there!... So good to be there.' 

Lopez's hosting skills were put to good use last week, as he served as host of the Alma Academy's Almies Awards Gala in Las Vegas. 

Last week, Sin City played host to The Alma Academy, a two-day event inviting physicians, aesthetic experts, and industry professionals the opportunity to learn more about the future of medical aesthetics and innovation.

The Almies Awards Gala honored the innovations and the best the medical aesthetics industry. 

'A lot of people always ask me my skincare routine. I really don't have a routine other than I just make sure I use a scrub and a wash. 

'I don't want to get ingrown hairs when I'm about to shave and stuff. I do, you know, try to get facials and stuff because I wear a lot of makeup because of work, right? So I'll do that. 

'But my wife was a fan, and The Alma Academy, I thought was very cool. It brings together all best physicians and aesthetic experts, and just people in the industry that are pros, and they're sort of exploring the future of medical aesthetics.

'And get to be here in Vegas, and I know a lot of people that are here from LA and celebrating, and I'm happy to take part in it.'