Shannen Doherty has revealed that she’s been diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer five years after sharing that she was in remission from the disease.
“It’s going to come out in a matter of days or a week that — I’m stage four,” the 48-year-old actress shared Tuesday during her appearance on “Good Morning America.”
“So my cancer came back,” she added. “And that’s why I’m here. I don’t think I’ve processed it. It’s a bitter pill to swallow in a lot of ways.” (RELATED: Luke Perry’s Daughter Shares Never-Before-Seen Photo Of Her Father)
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Doherty continued, “I definitely have days where I say, ‘Why me?’ And then I go, ‘Well, why not me? Who else? Who else besides me deserves this?’ None of us do.” (RELATED: ‘Riverdale’ Needs A Lot More Sex And Violence If It Wants To Be Successful)
“And I would say that my first reaction is always concern about how — how am I going to tell my mom, my husband,” the “90210” star shared as she started getting emotional.
The superstar actress then explained how “weird” it was for her to be “diagnosed and then somebody who was, you know, seemingly healthy to go first,” she said, referencing her late co-star Luke Perry.
“It was really, like, shocking,” she added. “And the least I could do to honor him [Perry] was to do that show [90210]. I still haven’t done enough, in my opinion. So it’s a hard one.”
Shannen then explained that she worked on the reboot of the series after being diagnosed more than a year ago to send a message that “other people with stage 4 can work too.”
“Like, you know, our life doesn’t end the minute we get that diagnosis,” Doherty said. “We still have some living to do.”
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The “Charmed” star said she decided to finally speak out about her diagnosis because she wanted people to hear it from her rather than in court documents. Doherty sued State Farm after her home was “severely damaged” in the Woolsey Fire in 2018 and her health conditions came out in court.
“I’d rather people hear it from me,” the actress shared. “I don’t want it to be twisted. I don’t want it to be a court document. I want it to be real and authentic. And I want to control the narrative. I want people to know from me, I just didn’t want them to know yet.”
In 2015, Doherty revealed that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and has been very candid about her struggle with the disease on her social media.