Jennie Garth Recalls Shannen Doherty’s Interest in Her Love Life After Divorce
Shannen Doherty and Jennie Garth Michael Tran/FilmMagic/Getty Images“I was remembering, like, there [were] times after we stopped filming [Beverly Hills, 90210] and I was newly divorced — I think — and she took a special interest [in] whoever I was dating,” Garth, 52, said on her “90210MG” podcast. “She wanted to meet them, basically vet them, I guess.”
Garth, who was married to musician Daniel B. Clark from 1994 to 1996, recalled that Doherty would often assess her boyfriends during dinner dates, offering her honest opinion on whether they were suitable partners. “We went to dinner with two of my quote-unquote boyfriends during that weird time, and I just remember her just really truly checking them out from across the table and assessing them,” Garth shared. “And then I would be like, ‘What do you think?’ And she would tell me.”
Garth and her ex-husband Peter Facinelli, with whom she shares three daughters, went their separate ways in 2012. She later married Dave Abrams in 2015, while Facinelli became engaged to Lily Anne Harrison in 2020.
Peter Facinelli and Jennie Garth Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images
Garth reflected on her complicated dynamic with Doherty, saying that despite their ups and downs, she wants fans to come together and celebrate their friendship. “There’s been this crazy division in some of the fans that they were either Team Kelly or they were Team Brenda, and I don’t think that either Shannen or I ever wanted that,” Garth shared. “[Her death] is a time when we can come together and process this all with each other. That is my hope.”
Celebrities have been paying tribute to Doherty, who passed away on July 13 at the age of 53. Garth and her “90210MG” co-host Tori Spelling, 51, spoke about their disbelief over Doherty’s death, with Spelling saying that Doherty had shown her strength and resilience throughout her life and career.
Garth added that she “never thought” Doherty would die from cancer, given her tough and fighter spirit. “Just knowing what we know about her — what a tough, like, fighter, [and] strong [person she is] — it just seemed like it would never get her,” she said. “And then when it did, it was just shocking.”
Despite the shock and sadness, Garth and Spelling are choosing to focus on the positive memories they shared with Doherty, and hope that fans will do the same.