Jason Priestley believes Shannen Doherty being more open about her personal struggles could have changed the outcome of her time on “Beverly Hills, 90210.”
During Thursday’s episode of Pete Ferriero’s “The Slice of Life Show” podcast, Priestley, who played Brandon Walsh on the iconic ’90s teen drama, reflected on Doherty’s “disruptive” on-set behavior that led to her departure.
“There was never an issue between her and I specifically,” he said. “I loved Shannen. I loved working with her. She was a great actress. She was a great scene partner. I only have fond memories of working with her on the show.”
Doherty, who played Brenda Walsh, twin sister of Priestley’s Brandon, exited the series at the end of its fourth season, with the show ultimately going on to run for 10 seasons.
When asked whether he thought letting her go was the “right move,” Priestley, 57, admitted, “That’s a tough question.”
“I feel like, given the information that we had, we made the only choice that we could,” he added. “Had Shannen been more forthcoming about what was happening with her in her life at that point in time, I think we could have made a different choice.”
The “Wild Cards” actor went to explain that Doherty’s departure was “scary” for him and the rest of the cast, describing her as “part of the secret sauce that made the show successful.”
“We were going to lose that. As much as we knew it was going to impact her life and her career, we knew it was going to impact our show as well,” he said. “The decision to let her go was not one that was taken lightly.”
Doherty, for her part, previously opened up about the circumstances surrounding her exit during a 2024 episode of her “Let’s Be Clear with Shannen Doherty” podcast, with Priestley appearing as her guest.
During their conversation, she revealed that her marriage to then-husband Ashley Hamilton contributed to her unprofessional behavior on set and ultimately played a role in her firing.
“Toward my last season, I was in a really horrible marriage, and there were things that were transpiring in that marriage that made it really hard for me to consistently be on time for work,” Doherty recalled.
Although she said she wished someone had sat her down and warned her to “get your s–t together” before letting her go, she also acknowledged that she could have been more “transparent” about what was happening in her personal life.
At the time, her father was “super sick,” while her marriage to Hamilton, whom she said struggled with drug addiction, had become “all-consuming.”
“I didn’t even want to leave the house because I was scared that [Hamilton] would go and get drugs,” she added.
Doherty died in July 2024 at age 53 following a lengthy battle with stage 4 cancer. In the wake of her death, she was remembered by her “Beverly Hills, 90210” co-stars, with Priestley paying tribute to her in an Instagram post.
“Shocked and saddened to hear about the passing of my friend Shannen. She was a force of nature and I will miss her. Sending love and light to her family in this dark time,” he wrote.
More recently, Priestley revealed during an episode of his former co-star Jennie Garth’s “9021OMG” podcast last month that he once begged executive producer Aaron Spelling to end the series while it was still “on top.”
“There was lots of crazy stuff that happened in that eighth season,” Priestley said. “It started to feel very daytime-y in a way.”
He recalled approaching Spelling about wrapping up the show, only for the legendary TV producer to allegedly tell him, “They’re going to pull me off this set in a body bag,” insisting that he was “never ending the show.”
Priestley ultimately exited the series, which ran from 1990 to 2000, at the beginning of Season 9.
The post Jason Priestley reveals what could have saved Shannen Doherty from getting fired from ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ appeared first on Page Six.
