Jason Priestley thinks 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” behavior on set that led to his departure.
“There was never any problem between her and me specifically,” he said. “I loved Shannen. I loved working with her. She was a great actress. She was a great scene partner. I have nothing but great memories of working with her on the show.”
Doherty, who played Brenda Walsh, the twin sister of Priestley’s Brandon, left the series at the end of its fourth season, with the series ultimately continuing for 10 seasons.
Asked if he thought letting her go was the “right decision”, Priestley, 57, admitted: “It’s a difficult question. »
“I feel like, given the information we had, we made the only choice we could,” he added. “If Shannen had been more open about what was happening to her in her life at that time, I think we might have made a different choice.”
The “Wild Cards” actor went on 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 this. Even though we knew it was going to impact his life and his career, we knew it was going to impact our show as well,” he said. “The decision to let her go was not taken lightly.”
Doherty, for her part, previously spoke about the circumstances surrounding her exit during a 2024 episode of her podcast “Let’s Get Clear with Shannen Doherty,” 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 final season, I was in a really horrible marriage, and there were things going on in that marriage that made it very difficult for me to always be on time for work,” Doherty recalls.
Although she said she wished someone would have sat her down and warned her to “get it together” before letting her go, she also acknowledged that she could have been more “transparent” about what was going on in her personal life.
At the time, her father was “very ill”, while her marriage to Hamilton, who she said struggled with drug addiction, had become “all-consuming”.
“I didn’t even want to leave the house because I was afraid (Hamilton) would go get drugs,” she added.
Doherty died in July 2024 at the age of 53 following a long battle with stage 4 cancer. Following her death, her “Beverly Hills, 90210” co-stars remembered her, with Priestley paying tribute to her in an Instagram post.
“Shocked and saddened to learn of the passing of my friend Shannen. She was a force of nature and I will miss her. Sending love and light to her family during this dark time,” he wrote.
Most 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 show while it was still “on top.”
“A lot of crazy things happened in this eighth season,” Priestley said. “It started to seem very diurnal, in a way.”
He recalls contacting Spelling about wrapping up the series, but the legendary TV producer reportedly told him, “They’re going to take me off this set in a body bag,” insisting he was “never finishing the show.”
Priestley ultimately left the series, which ran from 1990 to 2000, at the start of season 9.
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