The Beverly Hills, 90210 cast has been through a lot in recent years, with the loss of Shannen Doherty and Luke Perry, among others. Even though there was some reported tension on set of the hit ‘90s teen drama, especially between Doherty and Jennie Garth, some tight bonds were forged on the set of the 10-season show. To that point, Garth recently reflected on Perry being her first real love.
One of the biggest storylines on 90210 is the love triangle between Brenda (Doherty), Dylan (Perry), and Kelly (Garth), and two of the actors truly had affection for each other off camera. Garth opened up about her experience on the series and her new book, I Choose Me: Chasing Joy, Finding Purpose & Embracing Reinvention, while on Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard. Shepard brought up Perry, as the late actor is brought up in the book and described as shining his light on Garth. The actress shared warm thoughts when discussing her relationship with Perry and the kind of person he truly was:
Yeah, that light. I thought I was the only one that felt it. I really did. I was such a sucker. . . . I came to soon realize that he shined that same light on everyone. And that was just the nature of Luke, and why people gravitated towards him and loved him. They felt so seen and appreciated by him.
When Perry died in 2019, fellow Hollywood stars as well as fans heavily mourned him . Many celebrities paid tribute to Perry after his stroke, and those sentiments served as a testament to just how much of an impact he had on so many people. Now, it's lovely to hear about Perry's effect on Garth, and it really sounds special. It was so special, in fact, that Garth admitted in her book that she was in love with Perry, and she further explained their relationship to Shepard, which didn’t really go too far:
Article continues belowYeah, he was definitely my first real love. . . . Probably, he kept it from escalating. Because he had a real strong moral compass, at the same time, he loved me, but he didn’t want to ruin me. I think that he knew if we got involved, it would ruin me.
Even though both of the then-young actors could acknowledge their feelings for each other, they decided not to act on them. As sad as that may sound, it honestly makes sense, because they were on the biggest TV show at the time and were friends. With that, Perry clearly cared enough about Garth to protect her and not want to ruin anything between them and “ruin” her. Shepard did ask if Perry had trouble committing to her, and Garth had this to say:
I don’t think under those circumstances, no.
I could imagine it would be difficult going through heartbreak at that age and in the public eye. That didn’t seem to put a damper on Jennie Garth and Luke Perry's relationship, though, and they still seemed to love and care for one another. All in all, they had a truly special relationship, and it sounds like Garth still carries that with her.
There are plenty of couples who've gotten together after meeting on the set of a movie or TV show and, while it works out for some, for others it does not. It can't be said for sure how Garth and Perry's lives (and possibly even their careers) would've been different had they actually linked up. Yet I simply appreciate their special bond and the fact that Garth was vulnerable enough to open up about it.
Beverly Hills, 90210 fans can stream the show now using a Paramount+ subscription.
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