Ian Ziering Calls Shannen Doherty a 'Fighter' amid News Her Cancer Has Spread: 'It’s Not Over' (Exclusive)
“She's so courageous and strong, and stands as a role model to those that are facing similar adversities,” the actor told PEOPLE
Ian Ziering will always be in Shannen Doherty's corner.
The Beverly Hills, 90210 actor, 59, praised his former costar for her fortitude after she spoke about her stage 4 breast cancer in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE last month.
“Shannen has always been a fighter,” Ziering told PEOPLE at the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball 2023 in Los Angeles on Friday evening. “It's not over.”
“She's got a long road in front of her. She's so courageous and strong, and stands as a role model to those that are facing similar adversities,” he continued. “She's really an incredible woman.”
Doherty previously revealed in her exclusive interview with PEOPLE that Ziering — along with Brian Austin-Green — were the two cast members from Beverly Hills, 90210 whom she really formed a bond with over the past several years.
“I would say out of anybody in that cast, Brian has been the one who's stayed consistent in my life,” she said. “Brian and I never really lost touch with each other. We always checked in. We've always made a point of trying to see each other."
She continued: “I think Ian and I, it was like once we got older, we really came to appreciate each other in a very different way and be able to sit down and talk about what we were both going through as individuals back in that original 90210 days.”
“But once we were all in Canada shooting the reboot ... Yeah, it often was the three Musketeers. Myself, Ian and Brian, we would just go to dinners together and hang out. It was pretty awesome,” she added.
Back in September, Green, 50, praised Doherty for her strength while dealing with cancer, telling PEOPLE, "Shannen is loved and she should be.”
"She is a fighter. She's been facing challenges over the last, gosh, decade now that are just, they're difficult things. And she is absolutely leading by example and showing people that even in the toughest of times, you can keep your head up and you can be a good person," he added.
Doherty has been open about her cancer journey for years. She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, which went into remission in 2017. But by 2019, the cancer returned — and she announced her diagnosis of metastatic stage 4 cancer the following year.
In June, Doherty shared that the cancer had spread to her brain. At the time, she posted a video on Instagram of her undergoing radiation therapy.
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In her November cover story interview with PEOPLE, the actress revealed that the cancer spread to her bones, but she was still receiving treatment and hoped to even get into clinical trials as new treatments are developed to battle metastatic breast cancer.
“I’m not done with living. I’m not done with loving. I’m not done with creating. I’m not done with hopefully changing things for the better," she said. "I’m just not — I’m not done.”
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