Tori Spelling Regrets Shannen Doherty Leaving ‘90210,’ Admits Set Was Too Toxic
Tori Spelling and Jennie Garth are reflecting on their past experience filming Beverly Hills, 90210, namely how they regret the exit of co-star Shannen Doherty.
Doherty, who played Brenda Walsh, left the smash hit teen drama after Season 4 in 1994 amid speculation she had friction with the cast.
"I wish that Brenda would have stayed on the show, definitely, but I don’t know where they were gonna go with her character," Garth admitted on a recent episode of her and Spelling's podcast, 90210MG.
"If I’m going to answer as a fan, which is how we go into the show right now, re-watching — yes, I would have liked it worked out so Brenda could have stayed. Being in it and on the outside of what was going on at the time, there probably needed to be a break because there was just, the energy, you know, she wasn’t happy," Spelling chimed in.
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The True Tori star noted that a lot of the cast wasn't "happy" at the time, and that the set was often "toxic."
"I think it affected everyone and therefore the energy became toxic on set. I’m not saying she [Doherty] made it toxic, just from everything going on. So it did need a break. But yes, if we had taken a breather, and everyone had calmed down and sorted out, it would have been really nice to have Brenda come back," Spelling continued.
In 2018, Spelling defended Doherty against public perception that she was difficult to work with, explaining how she was perceived after leaving Beverly Hills, 90210 was unfair.
"She had an unfair rap. She took it and took it like a champ. Once they gave her that label, it lived with her, her whole career, and that’s unfortunate," the 46-year-old told US Weekly.
"I know what it’s like to get a label of something and that’s the one story that stays with you forever, and it just wasn’t true," Spelling added, noting that even though the cast had their fair share of "ups and downs," they were still all "really good friends."
Beverly Hills, 90210 ran from 1990 to 2000. The hit teen drama starred Spelling, Doherty, Garth, Brian Austin Green, Jason Priestly, Ian Ziering, Gabrielle Carteris and the late Luke Perry, who died following a stroke in March 2019.
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Spelling has maintained a positive attitude as of late despite splitting from her husband.
In a since-deleted Instagram post shared on June 17, Dean McDermott announced he and the actress had called it quits. The former couple got married in 2006.
The former couple share five children: Liam Aaron, 16, Stella Doreen, 15, Hattie Margaret, 11, Finn Davey, 10, and Beau Dean, 6.