Jennie Garth will always have a "connection" with Shannen Doherty.

Jennie Garth will always have a connection with Shannen Doherty

Jennie Garth will always have a connection with Shannen Doherty

The 52-year-old actress starred alongside Shannen - who died earlier this month at the age of 53 following a long battle with cancer - on 'Beverly Hills, 90210' in the 1990s and admitted that she and her former castmates have just been trying to "support" each other amid the tragic news.

She told People: "People don't, I think, fully understand it when you experience life-changing events like that for so long together during your formative years, you have a connection that can never ever be broken by an argument, or a death, or opinion.

"No matter what, there's that connection there, and it will be there for the rest of each of our lives and beyond."

The former 'What I Like About You' star initially shared a group chat conversation with her co-stars in which they begged for "no more loss" and Jennie admitted that especially having already lost co-star Luke Perry - who passed away in 2019 at the age of 52 following a stroke - she and her surviving castmates are "supportive" of each other.

She added: "I think just really honoring that connection, and we have been supportive.

"We do reach out to each other here and there and offer each other support and just tell each other we love each other. I think that's one of the hardest parts for me is that it's now – it's two people from our original cast [who have died]."

Jennie took to social media after the news of her friend's death broke, where she remembered the 'Charmed' star as one of the "strongest women" she had ever met.

Alongside a throwback picture of herself and Shannen, she wrote on Instagram: "I am still processing my tremendous grief over the loss of my long-time friend Shannen, the woman I have often described as one of the strongest people I have ever known. Our connection was real and honest. We were so often pitted against each other but none of that reflected the truth of our real relationship which was one built on mutual respect and admiration."