Why Mark-Paul Gosselaar Warns His Wife About His Intimacy Scenes

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Mark-Paul Gosselaar attends the 30th Annual Critics Choice Awards

Mark-Paul Gosselaar is a compelling leading man, but he doesn’t jump at the opportunity to film intimate scenes with his co-stars. He revisited one of his beloved TV roles and answered whether his character would’ve found love if the series had been renewed. Gosselaar, 52, explained that his wife, Catriona McGinn, isn’t a fan of love scenes.

Mark-Paul Gosselaar Says Intimacy Scenes Are ‘Never a Good Thing’ for Him

“Pitch” fans didn’t get to see the relationship between Ginny Baker (Kylie Bunbury) and Mike Lawson (Gosselaar) play out before its cancellation. The actor told Us Weekly that he didn’t know whether there would’ve been a romance between them.

“Whether there would be a connection between [Mike] and Ginny? That I don’t know,” the “Saved by the Bell” star answered. “I think they would always sort of keep that [under wraps].”

The actor said he isn’t a fan of doing intimate scenes. “No, no, no. Then I gotta go home and explain that to my wife,” he explained. “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.”

The 2016 FOX series followed Kylie, the first woman to play in Major League Baseball with the San Diego Padres. Mike is the captain and Hall of Famer. It was cancelled after one season, after its writers were released two weeks earlier, according to Deadline.

Gosselaar told PEOPLE that the cancellation hit him hard. He went to therapy with his wife to process the loss.

“I wanted to quit the industry after that ended,” he revealed. “That’s one of those, you feel like in your lifetime you’re not going to be handed opportunities like that, so for that to pass in the fashion that it did it was sort of a gut punch. That’s a role though, that I don’t make light of it, but I had to go therapy with my wife.”

Who Is Mark-Paul Gosselaar’s Wife, Catriona McGinn?

McGinn is a sales executive in advertising. The couple has two children named Dekker Edward and Lachlyn Hope. Gosselaar is also the father of Michael Charles and Ava Lorenn from his previous marriage with Lisa Ann Russell. The “NYPD Blue” actor made it clear where his family stands in his list of priorities.

“I always say this: ‘I’m a husband first, a father second [and an] actor third,’” Gosselaar said on “The Jennifer Hudson Show” in 2025. “My day revolves around making sure my wife is good [and] making sure the kids are good.”

The actor currently plays Paul Campano, a car dealership owner, who was raised in the same orphanage as the main character in “Will Trent.” He also played “Sir” in two seasons of “Found,” which ended in 2025.