Tiffani Thiessen Says People Still Comment “That’s Not Zack” When She Posts Her Husband of 21 Years

08 Oct 2026, 15:35 · Thought Catalog

Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images

Updated 34 minutes ago, October 8, 2026

On the podcast I’ve Never Said This Before, Tiffani Thiessen described the Saved by the Bell question she can’t shake: fans still ask whether Kelly would really pick Zack or Slater. Her answer is neither, “because I wasn’t Kelly.”

At the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California, Tiffani Thiessen turned out for the world premiere of Disney’s “Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires” on July 8, 2025. Photo by Valerie Macon / AFP via Getty Images.

Then there’s the part that follows her off the show. When she shares photos of her husband, people still comment that he isn’t Zack.

“I’m 52. I’ve been married for 21 years,” she said. “I did not marry Zack.”

Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Tiffani Amber Thiessen, in character as Zack Morris and Kelly Kapowski, exchange rings during the filming of Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas in June 1994, with Dustin Diamond visible at left. Photo by Bill Nation/Sygma via Getty Images.

Thiessen played Kelly Kapowski from 1989 to 1993, and the character married Zack Morris in the 1994 TV movie Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas. In 2015, she imagined Kelly would “probably have 10 children, still be married to Zack, and living in Minnesota.”

Off screen she married actor Brady Smith in 2005. His proposal involved a handmade book called The Tiffani & Brady Chronicles, with a drawing of himself on 1 knee on the final page. When Thiessen reached that page, Smith got down on 1 knee himself.

At the sixth annual Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic in Jersey City, NJ, Tiffani Thiessen and Brady Smith share a playful moment on the lawn on June 1, 2013. Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images.

When Smith saw the show’s Hot Sundae clip in 2019, he asked, “Is that a music video?” Thiessen said their daughter had seen more of the show than he had.

In 2025, Thiessen said Smith “had never watched the show. Not one episode.” Which is insane. He doesn’t even know he married Kelly!

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