Jennie Garth cherishes the memories she shared with Shannen Doherty with immense love. In fact, the actress recently opened up about their time together on "Beverly Hills, 90210," where they played rival characters Kelly Taylor and Brenda Walsh, respectively. Despite rumors of a feud between them, the truth is more nuanced.
"We didn't have the capacity or the language at that point," Jennie told Rosanna Scotto of "Good Day New York" during an April 14 appearance on Fox. "Everything was happening so fast. We never really sat down and talked it out. But we were friends, then we would clash, and then we were friends again."
The 54-year-old actress added, "We were young. That's what you do when you're growing up and you're in this competitive environment where the script pits you against each other, the media, and the world. It's hard, and the lines sometimes get blurred."
Despite their on-screen rivalry, Jennie and Shannen—who showed immense respect for each other in real life—found solace in leaning into their on-screen status as frenemies. "There are two sides to every story," the "Girl, Positive" star explained. "The press doesn't know what's really going on in a relationship, so they make it up to sell headlines, and we were living it."
"And we were growing and learning the whole time," she added. "So if you look back at your life and you really zero in on some of the bad things that happened to you and blame it on other people, it just doesn't work out. But I think we dealt with it the best way we knew how, and there were no bad vibes between us."
Recently, the "What I Like About You" actress—mom to daughters Luca, 28, Lola, 23, and Fiona, 19, with ex-husband Peter Facinelli—even opened up about Shannen's impact on her life after her 2024 death.
"At the end of the day, we really did have a respect for one another as strong women who have lasted a long time in this industry," Jennie told People in an interview published April 9. "And she taught me a lot. She taught me a lot of really good things about being strong, standing up for myself, using my voice. And I'm forever grateful for her and for the relationship that we had."
"Even though at times it was complicated," she added, "it was still really good."
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