Shannen Doherty is opening up about the infamous behind-the-scenes tension on the set of "Charmed," claiming that her costar Alyssa Milano and her family contributed to the friction on the set of the show.
On the latest episode of her podcast, "Let's Be Clear," Doherty and "Charmed" costar Holly Marie Combs recalled their time on the show while also addressing the drama that led to Doherty's exit after season 3.
Doherty claimed that Milano and her mother attempted to separate her from Combs during filming for season 2.
"It was really interesting of [her] trying to pull you away from me," she said, according to Entertainment Weekly, which noted that Combs and Doherty were close friends before being cast on "Charmed."
The core trio faced a series of personal challenges during season 2. Doherty was dealing with her father's illness, which had him, "in and out of the hospital nonstop."
Combs meanwhile, underwent surgery to remove a potentially cancerous tumor from her uterus. Doherty said she tried to visit Combs in the hospital but was blocked from doing so by Milano and her mother.
"Hospitals scared me to death. I waited 24 hours after your surgery to go and then it wasn't even easy for me to get in. I was like being told I couldn't even get in," Doherty said. "Alyssa and her mom were blocking people from seeing you and at the time you didn't know. I remember you texted me, 'Dude are you going to come and see me?' "
The idea that Combs thought she had abandoned her left Doherty feeling crushed and wracked with guilt.
"I also felt my anger at the situation of not being allowed to come see you and how a sort of family had swooped in," Doherty added. "[It] caused a weird divide between the two of us that continued throughout season 2. I think I cried every single night."
Commenting on the show, Combs said she wanted it to be a success and also wanted "everybody to get along."
"There were no angels, there were no demons," she said. "We all had bad days, we all had good days. We all could have behaved better at certain points but there was a lack of awareness of a bigger broader picture."
Milano has since said that she and Doherty have reconciled and, in a 2021 interview with Entertainment Tonight, admitted that she contributed to strained relationships off-screen.
"You know, I could take responsibility for a lot of our tension that we had," Milano said at the time. "I think a lot of our struggle came from feeling that I was in competition rather than it being that sisterhood that the show was so much about. And I have some guilt about my part in that."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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