Jason Priestley is 'heartbroken' over Shannen Doherty's cancer diagnosis

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Jason Priestley is "heartbroken" over Shannen Doherty's stage four breast cancer diagnosis.

The 50-year-old actor starred alongside Shannen as twins Brenda and Brandon Walsh in the hit 90s series 'Beverly Hills, 90210' - and its recent reboot 'BH90210' - and has spoken out amid the news that his co-star is suffering from stage four cancer, two years after she announced she was in remission.

Jason told People magazine at the Monte Carlo Television Festival 60th Anniversary Celebration on Wednesday (05.02.20): "I reached out to her yesterday when the news broke. She's overwhelmed with well wishers and with people reaching out to her. I haven't heard back from her yet, but I'm sure that I will very soon.

"Shannen was a big part of my life. Shannen and I will always have a bond that is very meaningful. I'm very heartbroken about the news and I wish her and her family the best in this very difficult time."

Shannen revealed her diagnosis this week, when she admitted she's still struggling to "process" the news.

The 48-year-old actress said: "It's going to come out in a matter of days or a week that - I'm stage four. So my cancer came back. 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.

"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. But I would say that my first reaction is always concern about how - how am I going to tell my mom, my husband."

Shannen said she initially kept her diagnosis a secret and went back to work on 'BH90210' because she wanted to honour her friend and former co-star Luke Perry, who passed away after suffering a stroke four months before the rebooted show began filming.

She added: "It's so weird for me to be diagnosed and then somebody who was, you know, seemingly healthy to go first.

"It was really, like, shocking. And the least I could do to honour him was to do that show. I still haven't done, in my opinion. So it's a hard one."

The actress has gone public with her diagnosis now because she feared her health battles could come out in court documents relating to her legal fight with insurance company State Farm, who she is suing as she claimed some of her claims have been unjustly denied after her California home was damaged by fire in 2018.

She said: "I'd rather people hear it from me. 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."