Actress Shannen Doherty, 48, broke down in tears as she revealed her heartbreaking news on Good Morning America today. She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, but got the all-clear two years later. Speaking on the show today, she said: “It’s going to come out in a matter of days or weeks that I am stage four, my cancer came back and that’s why I am here.
“It’s a bitter pill to swallow in a lot of ways,” she added. “I’m petrified. I’m pretty scared.”
The actress went on to say she was worried about telling her mum and her husband Kurt Iswarienko her cancer had returned.
“My mum is a ridiculously strong courageous human being,” she continued.
“So is my husband, but I worry about him,” she said. Doherty does not have children.
Shannen was diagnosed with cancer again following the death of her friend Luke Perry, who died of a stroke in February last year.
She added: “Why wasn’t it me? It was so weird for me to be diagnosed and then somebody who was seemingly healthy to go first.
“It was really shocking and the least I could do to honour him was to do that [reboot] show.
“I still haven’t done enough in my opinion.”
Shannen said she decided to work on the reboot of Beverly Hills, 90210, to honour Luke and inspire others.
“I thought… people can look at that and say, ‘Oh my God, yeah. She can work and other people with stage 4 can work, too’.”
“Our life doesn’t end the minute we get that diagnosis,” she continued.
The actress decided to speak out about her cancer news publicly, as she feared it would come out in court papers.
The 90210 star is currently in the midst of a legal battle with an insurance company after her home was destroyed by California wildfires in 2018.
She added: “I’d rather people hear it from me. I don’t want it to be twisted; I don’t want it to be a court document.
“I want it to be real and authentic and I want to control the narrative. I want people to know from me.”
More to follow…