Showbiz Tonight will be airing an exclusive interview with former “Saved by the Bell” star Dustin Diamond about the “sex tape” of him now in circulation. A.J. Hammer interviewed Diamond via satellite from Cleveland to get the first comments directly from Diamond regarding the tape. Among the highlights…

- The sex tape got out because Diamond and some buddies have a “monthly gathering” wherein they exchange such tapes, which earn points based on “what [we’re] able to accomplish” on the tapes: “We do it almost like poker. [The tape] could have been left out in anybody’s home, machine, computer.”

- “The people that are involved in this group [of friends who exchange tapes] are all ‘profile people.’” Diamond doesn’t believe any of those people leaked the tape, but perhaps a significant other of one of them did.

- Diamond admits the tape has “caused turmoil on the home front.”

- “We’ve been doing it for a while, and we didn’t think it was a problem. Apparently, it is a problem.”

- Diamond’s words for David Hans Schmidt, the man peddling the tape (also known as the “Sultan of Sleaze”): “You’re a scumbag.” Diamond also says he will fight this “tooth and nail” to fight the distribution of the tape, and that while Schmidt may have won “the little battles, he won’t win the war - nice try, though!”

- Diamond denies the rumor that he secretly knew about the tape’s release and was hoping it would boost his career. He says the tape was “private” and not meant for anybody else. It was not released with his approval and he does not condone it being out there. Will Diamond eventually cash in on this tape, if offered a distribution deal? “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”