Shannen Doherty has come forward to reveal that she has stage four breast cancer.
In a new interview with Good Morning America, which aired on Tuesday (February 4), the longtime actress shared insight about her new health battle. "It's going to come out in a matter of days or a week that -- I'm stage four. So my cancer came back. And that's why I'm here," Doherty, 48, tearfully told ABC News' Amy Robach. "I don't think I've processed it. It's a bitter pill to swallow in a lot of ways."
Doherty was initially diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2015 but her health took a turn when it returned about a year ago as she filmed the reboot to 90210., which was launched just four months after her friend and former co-star Luke Perry passed away. "It's so weird for me to be diagnosed and then somebody who was, you know, seemingly healthy to go first," she explained. "It was really, like, shocking. And the least I could do to honor him was to do that show. I still haven't done, in my opinion. So it's a hard one."
As for why she kept it a secret, the actress said she wanted to set an example for those who are in her shoes. "One of the reasons, along with Luke -- that I did 90210 and didn't really tell anybody because I thought, people can look at that other people with stage four can work too. Like, you know, our life doesn't end the minute we get that diagnosis. We still have some living to do," she said.
Co-star Brian Austin Green was one of the few people in the know of her diagnosis and helped her get through 15-16 hours-long shoot days. "I had moments of great anxiety where I thought, 'I can't really do this,' and Brian was the one person who -- of that group of people that knew -- that I told, like, pretty quickly and said, 'Here, the -- this is what I'm dealing with,'" she explained. "So prior to shooting he would always call me and say, 'Listen, you know, whatever happens, I have your back.' He would look at me and be like, 'We got this, kiddo'... so Brian helped me through a lot."
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