Having a best friend in high school often means going to the mall, talking about crushes, talking on the phone for hours (or, these days, texting), and feeling like that friendship is going to last forever.
Sometimes people get lucky and keep in touch with those they knew as a teenager, but for many, life gets in the way. A great depiction of a high school friendship was Kelly Taylor and Brenda Walsh on Beverly Hills 90210. Fans of the popular teen show hope to hear that the cast members are friends in real life, and it's true that Luke Perry's co-stars loved him.
But IRL, Kelly and Brenda had some problems with one another, and Shannen Doherty is known for being difficult to deal with, whether on 90210 or when she blackmailed the Charmed producers.
Did Jennie Garth and Shannen Doherty get into a fight on the set of Beverly Hills 90210? Let's take a look.
The Fight
Kelly and Brenda may have been fast friends on Beverly Hills 90210, going shopping for new outfits and chatting about boys... until Kelly started falling for Brenda's boyfriend Dylan McKay, of course. That put a damper on their close friendship and caused some issues. Brenda had some confusing storylines but the love triangle was fun to watch.
But while Kelly and Brenda were pretty close on the show, people have often said that the two fought on set one day. Is that true?
Jennie Garth says the fight did take place. According to People, she went on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen and said, “We were young and so stupid. I can only remember one incident, and that’s when we took it outside.”
Security made sure that nothing actually happened, but it sounds like it could have gotten physical.
Why did this fight get going in the first place? According to Us Weekly, Tori Spelling explained to Garth about Doherty, "You guys were teasing each other and she, like, pulled your skirt up."
Garth replied, “We were teasing, yeah, I didn’t care for that. Like who does that? I wouldn’t do that to someone. … I’m pretty sure I got in her face. We are just both very strong, Aries women. We don’t back down no matter what.”
Life On The '90210' Set
Doherty left 90210 in season five and according to Nicki Swift, she didn't get along well with her co-stars.
According to Nicki Swift, Doherty was interviewed by Parade in 2019 and she admitted that people said she behaved badly. She said, "I have a rep. Did I earn it? Yeah, I did. But, after a while, you sort of try to shed that rep because you're kind of a different person."
Garth told CNN that it was an exciting time being young and famous and on the popular teen show. She explained that it was "the best time, all the time" and she also said, "I had no idea what I was into, I was in way over my head, let's just put it that way, in life, in general."
The 2008 Reboot
While fans enjoyed watching the 2019 reboot BH90210, there was also a reboot that started airing in 2008. 90210 aired for five seasons and told the story of a new crop of teenagers living in the fancy world of Beverly Hills, and as People reported, Jennie Garth and Shannen Doherty both appeared in the first season.
Since they reprised their roles as Kelly and Brenda, they had to be around each other once again. They were interviewed by Entertainment Weekly and talked about how people always said they fought on the set of the original show. Their co-star Tori Spelling even wrote about it in her book, sTORI Telling. Garth said, "A fistfight? That makes us sound so tough" and said that no one ever got hurt.
It might not have seemed like Jennie Garth and Shannen Doherty could ever get along, but they have been able to connect a lot more since their days on the original Beverly Hills 90210 series.
In the fall of 2020, Garth told E-News that she was very supportive of Doherty's struggle with cancer. She said, "I just check in on her once in a while and I definitely follow along on her stories to see and check-in and see how she is." She also said, "We're really here for her always and always cheering for her and really proud of what she's doing."
It definitely sounds like times were tense for Shannen Doherty and Jennie Garth on the set of Beverly Hills 90210, but thankfully, a physical fight didn't end up happening. Now the two seem to be in a much nicer, happier place.