“A fierce fighter until the end”

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Shannen Doherty’s Charmed co-star Holly Marie Combs has broken her silence following the actress’ tragic death from cancer on Saturday.

Beverly Hills, 90210 star Doherty struggled with chest pain cancer since 2015 – the disease spread to his brain in June last year.

Combs, 50, who played Piper Halliwell In the long-running WB television series Charmed, about a trio of witch sisters, Doherty was praised for being a “fierce fighter until the end.”

She wrote on Instagram: “My other half for 31 years. I have a hollow in my chest and I can’t catch my breath. I miss a part of me, even though I know exactly what you would tell me right now. I know exactly what you would tell me to do right now.”

“I know that your immortal spirit will live on in me and in my children whom you loved as your own. They will walk with your sense of duty and pride.”

“They will be honest and stand up for what is right. No matter what happens, they don’t care. Your fire will live on in them and the many other Charmed you helped raise.”

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“A fierce fighter to the end. My fiercest champion. My loyal protector. My best friend. You taught me the meaning of family. You were and will forever be my sister. I love you.”

She accompanied her message with a series of photos of the duo in happier times.

Combs and Doherty grew even closer in recent months when the former opened up about the behind-the-scenes drama between her, Alyssa Milano and Doherty on their hit series, Charmed.

While discussing the Beverly Hills, 90210 star’s abrupt departure from the series in 2001 after its third season on Doherty’s podcast, Let’s Be Clear, Combs revealed that she had a meeting with the show’s producer, Jonathan Levin, about her co-star’s firing.

Combs said Levin told him, “We didn’t do it on purpose, but we’re in a bind. We’re basically in a position where it’s one or the other.”

“Alyssa told us it was her or (Shannen) and Alyssa threatened to sue us for a hostile work environment,” she recalled Levin telling her.

On Sunday, Doherty’s publicist, Leslie Sloane, confirmed the actor’s death.

“It is with a heavy heart that I confirm the passing of actress Shannen Doherty. On Saturday, July 13, she lost her battle with cancer after many years of battling the disease,” Sloane told People.

“The devoted daughter, sister, aunt and friend was surrounded by loved ones and her dog, Bowie. The family requests privacy at this time so they can grieve in peace,” Sloane added.

Doherty, who played Brenda Walsh on the hit 1990s series, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015.

Just two years later, the Charmed star revealed that the cancer had returned after going into remission.

At the time, she told Good Morning America: “We’re going to find out in a few days or a week that I’m stage 4. So my cancer has come back, and that’s why I’m here.

“I don’t think I’ve been able to achieve that. It’s a bitter pill to swallow in many ways,” she said.

Last year, she announced that her cancer had spread to her brain in an Instagram post that showed her undergoing radiation treatment.

In October 1990, Doherty starred in the original Beverly Hills, 90210, but left the series after the fourth season in 1994. She returned to the series as a guest star in 2008 after its reboot.

After the hit series, she starred in the drama series Charmed, in which she played Prue Halliwell, the eldest of the three witch sisters.

After directing several episodes of Charmed, Doherty left the show in 2001. She then turned to reality television, as a contestant on Dancing with the Stars and Breaking Up with Shannen Doherty.

She joined the 90210 reboot in 2019 and played the adult version of Brenda Walsh.

Doherty initially kept her diagnosis private, but after her co-star Luke Perry died suddenly at age 52 in 2019, she opened up about her health struggles.

Perry died on March 4 of that year after suffering a massive ischemic stroke at his home in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles.

“It’s so weird for me to be diagnosed and then someone who was, you know, seemingly healthy, goes first,” Doherty said on Good Morning America in 2020. “It was really shocking.”