Actor Shannen Doherty has revealed she has stage four cancer, having appeared on Good Morning America on Tuesday morning to share the news to her fans and in turn 'control the narrative' herself.
The news comes just five years after the Beverly Hills, 90210 star went into remission from breast cancer.
Doherty, 48, said: "It's going to come out in a matter of days or week that I am stage four, my cancer came back and that's why I am here.
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"It's a bitter pill to swallow in a lot of ways."
She added: "I'm petrified. I'm pretty scared."
Stage four means the cancer has spread to at least one other body organ from where it started.
Having been most worried about telling her mother Rosa and film producer husband Kurt Iswarienko, Doherty explained that she wanted to go public with the news herself.
She continued: "I'd rather people hear it from me. I don't want it to be twisted, a court document. I want it to be real and authentic.
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"I want to control the narrative. I want people to know from me."
Doherty began her career as a child star, having starred in the likes of Little House on the Prairie and Western series Father Murphy in her youth.
She said she had decided to speak out now about her cancer due to an ongoing lawsuit with insurance company State Farm, which she is suing over what she's argued is an unpaid claim for damage to her home, following the California wildfires last year.
Doherty said trying to make a claim against State Farm has been a 'horrific' process.
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She said: "My house was severely damaged. You walked in and it just reeked of smoke.
"I tried - I communicated with my insurance company. I called, I got passed around, claims adjuster or to claims adjuster.
"I ended up suing State Farm and the result has been one of the most horrific processes I have ever been through."
Doherty returned to her Beverly Hills, 90210 roots in last year's reboot, BH90210, where she played an 'extremely heightened' version of herself.
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The actor said she felt compelled to continue with the reboot after the sudden death of her former co-star, Luke Perry - despite secretly being diagnosed with stage four cancer at the time of his death in February last year.
She said: "It was so weird for me to be diagnosed and then somebody who was seemingly healthy to go first.
"It was really shocking and the least I could do to honor him was to do that show. I still haven't done enough in my opinion."
Saying she still had 'some living to do' in the face of her diagnosis, Doherty added: "Our life doesn't end when we get that diagnosis."
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Featured Image Credit: PA
Topics: Entertainment, Celebrity