Heartbroken Tori Spelling Reveals Spirit of Tragic Best Pal Shannen Doherty Is Watching Over Her Amid 'Hard Time' on 'Dancing With the Stars'
Tori Spelling says her late best friend Shannen Doherty is still inspiring her even despite her death earlier this summer.
Shannen Doherty may have passed away earlier this year – but that doesn't mean she isn't still inspiring best friend Tori Spelling as she navigates through some "hard times".
RadarOnline.com can reveal Spelling recently opened up about Doherty's passing and her new gig in Dancing with the Stars two months after Doherty succumbed to breast cancer at the age of 53 in July.
The 51-year-old Beverly Hills, 90210 alum said: "It's definitely a hard time with doing the show and all the excitement and having lost Shan so recently. But I remember she loved doing it and was totally in it.
Doherty, who starred alongside Spelling on Beverly Hills, 90210, passed away on July 13 after a long battle with breast cancer.
"She definitely in life has inspired me that, you know, when you commit, you commit. And I definitely, this season, she has encouraged me to turn my power on. So I'll take that with me."
Spelling, who starred alongside Doherty on Beverly Hills, 90210 during its ten-season run, discussed her late best friend further during an interview with Entertainment Weekly about her jaunt in season 33 of Dancing with the Stars.
The mom-of-five, who officially split from hubby Dean McDermott, 57, in March after 18 years of marriage, said: "I think in general, Shan was always a big champion of mine.
"And, in the last year, I was really grateful that we were able to spend time together."
The actress added: "She definitely inspired me during that last year to kind of turn on my power, as she would say, and kind of go for it. And that's staying with me, definitely, in my heart."
Spelling, pictured here with estranged husband Dean McDermott, said Doherty was always a "big champion" of hers.
As RadarOnline.com reported, Doherty passed away on July 13 following a lengthy battle with breast cancer.
Spelling, who played Donna Martin alongside Doherty's Brenda Walsh on Beverly Hills, 90210 from 1990 to 2000, paid tribute to Doherty on Instagram one day after her passing.
She wrote: "I don't have outward words yet…but WE knew and that's what matters."
Spelling discussed Doherty's death, and how she learned of the news, further during an episode of her MisSPELLING podcast at the end of July.
The Stori Telling author said: "It was really tough for me when I found out the news.
"I saw that Shannen had passed on Saturday night, and it was shocking, and I think the first thing I felt was madness. Is madness the word? I felt mad.
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Doherty competed in Dancing with the Stars 14 years before her passing.
"I felt mad for the life that wouldn't continue, the life that had so much to offer, not just herself but everybody around here."
As for her decision to finally join Dancing with the Stars, Spelling said she agreed to compete because she was "really trying to turn things around and find myself" – especially after being racked by money woes amid her split from McDermott.
Spelling said: "I've gotten that call before – many seasons, since the first season of Dancing with the Stars – and I said no. Not because I didn't want to do the show, because I was terrified and I was so scared.
"But this year, when I got the call, I was like, 'You know what? I'm really trying to turn things around and find myself.' So I was like, 'What scares me the most is gonna push me forward in life. So I'm doing it.'"
Spelling is seen here arriving for the first day at Dancing with the Stars rehearsals on September 5.
Spelling's stint in the hit dancing competition show comes 14 years after Doherty appeared as a celebrity contestant for the tenth season in 2010.
Doherty was paired with two-time champion Mark Ballas in his sixth season on the show, but the pair was the first couple eliminated in the second week.
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