Tori Spelling is opening up about the “shocking moment” she learned her friend and Beverly Hills, 90210 co-star Shannen Doherty had died at the age of 53.
Spelling, 51, spoke about the sad moment on her spelling mistake Sunday’s podcast, which aired just over two weeks after Doherty died on July 13 after a years-long battle with breast cancer.
Spelling, who played Donna Martin on the 1990s Fox series, said she was taking a nap with her children on Sunday, July 14, when her phone “kept buzzing” incessantly, announcing the bad news.
“It kept going off,” the Los Angeles resident said. “I looked at the time and it was 7 a.m., and I knew right away.
“I thought, ‘Oh my God. Someone died, someone important died.’ And I took that moment to not go on social media.”
Tori Spelling, 51, opens up about the “shocking moment” she learned her friend and Beverly Hills, 90210 co-star Shannen Doherty had died at the age of 53. Pictured in NYC in 2022
Doherty died on July 13 after a years-long battle with breast cancer. Pictured in LA in 2019
Spelling said she “opened up Google” and “saw that Shannen had passed away Saturday night, and it was shocking.”
Doherty was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. The cancer went into remission, but returned in 2017 at stage four. Last year, the cancer spread to her brain.
Spelling praised Doherty on her Sunday podcast for using her platform to raise awareness and give hope to her fans, saying she was grateful to have known her.
“For anyone in the world who was going through anything, whether it was cancer or any other illness or disease or related to a difficult time that they were going through, they really looked to her for inspiration and strength to keep going in those moments when they felt like they couldn’t,” Spelling said. “And I got to see that firsthand. I got to see that firsthand throughout her life, which is beautiful.”
Spelling said she was 15 years old when she first met Doherty while filming the pilot for the hit TV series, which her late father Aaron Spelling was an executive producer of.
I think Shannen and Brian [Austin Greene] “They were the first people I met on set, and they were really, really welcoming,” Spelling said. “She took me under her wing right away … she gave me a big hug, walked me around, took me to the makeup trailer.”
Spelling said her relationship with Doherty had its ups and downs and there were some “lost years,” but that they eventually reconciled after earlier “misunderstandings” and have been on good terms in recent years.
“We finally had the time to go back and say, ‘None of that matters,’” Spelling said. “What matters is the core friendship that we had, and we were able to go back to that.”
Immediately after Doherty’s death, Spelling posted a selfie of the couple on Instagram Stories with the caption, “I don’t have the words to say yet… but WE knew and that’s what matters.”
The Beverly Hills, 90210 cast members were photographed in 1991
Spelling described Doherty as a “beacon” in her life, leaving a lasting legacy for her fans and the public through her performances and the courage she showed during her health crisis.
“She will live on in her work and in the people who loved her and the things she stood for,” Spelling said.
Immediately after Doherty’s death, Spelling posted a selfie of the couple on Instagram Stories with the caption, “I don’t have the words to say yet… but WE knew and that’s what matters.”
Spelling released a more extensive statement following Doherty’s death on July 15.
“F*** them… Shan would say if I told her the pressure I feel to recap a 36-year relationship via social media and the sadness I feel for a fire that was extinguished too soon,” Spelling said.
She said they quickly became “best friends” and “each other’s pillars of strength, true confidants, pillars of strength in bad relationships, sometimes kind of roommates, travel companions and so much more.”
Spelling said Doherty “always stood up for her” and supported her, and believed in her when she “didn’t believe in herself or couldn’t believe in herself.”
She added: ‘We were young. We let a lot of outside and inside influences affect our friendship. In a world where we often don’t get the chance to make up for the childhood friendships that shape so much of the adult you become, we were given that chance.’
Spelling said her relationship with Doherty had its ups and downs, and there were some “lost years,” but that they eventually reconciled after earlier “misunderstandings” and have been on good terms in recent years. Pictured in NYC in 2022
Spelling described Doherty as a “beacon” in her life who left a lasting legacy for her fans and the public for her performances and the courage she showed amid her health crisis. Doherty pictured in LA in 2019
Doherty passed away more than five years after the death of Beverly Hills, 90210 star Luke Perry at the age of 52, after suffering a massive stroke in March 2019.
In the months following Perry’s death in 2019, Spelling reunited with co-stars Doherty, Jennie Garth, Jason Priestley, Brian Austin Green, Gabrielle Carteris and Ian Ziering for the show BH90210, in which the performers played fictional versions of themselves.
Doherty’s publicist Leslie Sloane told People in a statement on July 14: “It is with a heavy heart that I confirm the passing of actress Shannen Doherty. On Saturday, July 13, she lost her battle with cancer after battling the disease for many years.
“The devoted daughter, sister, aunt and friend was surrounded by her loved ones and her dog, Bowie. The family requests their privacy at this time so they may grieve in peace.”