Shannen Doherty reveals she briefly dated 90210 co-star Brian Austin Green: ‘Super awkward’

Doherty was in ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ for four seasons

Shannen Doherty has revealed she briefly dated her Beverly Hills,90210 co-star, Brian Austin Green.

The 53-year-old actor spoke candidly about her previous relationships during an appearance on Monday’s episode of Tori Spelling’s podcast, misSPELLING. During the conversation, Doherty shared that while she had a fling with Green, it wasn’t until after they’d finished working on Beverly Hills, 90210 together.

After pointing out that she dated Austin while starring in Charmed, which was on for three seasons in the late ‘90s, she specified why the romance didn’t last for long.

“It was short,” she said. “It’s like we tried something and then we just went: ‘Yeah, this isn’t gonna work.’ Like, the kissing didn’t even make sense.”

Doherty then told Spelling – who previously dated Green from 1990 to 1991– that she now couldn’t “even imagine” kissing her former co-star. “That’s why it didn’t go anywhere because it was awkward. It was super awkward,” she added.

Doherty emphasised that the relationship also didn’t work since she and Green had been friends for so long, as they were both in Beverly Hills, 90210 from 1990 to 1994.

“There was no fireworks because we were so close and we had known each other since we were little kids essentially,” she explained. “And I love Brian - he’s one of my favourite humans - but there was no spark.”

Spelling then quipped about how she also dated Green, telling Doherty: “Wow, so we shared even more than I thought.”

However, Spelling had different feelings about her relationship with Green, as she told Doherty that she fell “head over heels” for him when they were together and that he was the “first love of [her] life”. After recalling how she was “caught up in” that romance, Spelling noted that she’s now “just friends” with Green, despite how nervous she still feels around him at times.

“I love his fiancée, it’s not that,” she said, referring to Green’s partner, Sharna Burgess. “But if he says something to me, I get so flustered and riled up, and it takes me right back to being my 18-year-old self.”

Although their romance didn’t last, Green and Doherty have remained close friends over the years. During an interview with People in September, Green went on to praise his friend’s strength, after she revealed months earlier that her cancer had spread to her brain.

“Shannen is loved and she should be,” he told the publication. “She is a fighter. She’s been facing challenges over the last, gosh, decade now that are just, they’re difficult things. And she is absolutely leading by example and showing people that even in the toughest of times, you can keep your head up and you can be a good person.”

Doherty was originally diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, before announcing in April 2017 that she was in remission. However, the cancer returned two years later, and she announced her stage four breast cancer diagnosis in 2020. In June 2023, she first shared a video on Instagram of the brain radiation treatment she was receiving, while revealing her cancer had spread to her brain.