Shannen Doherty Says Goodbye to “Turbulent Year” While Looking Ahead to 2024

December 27, 2023

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Shannen Doherty looked back at the personal and health struggles she experienced in 2023, sharing that she endured “a lot of heartbreak and fear” in the process.

Shannen Doherty is looking forward to a charming new year.

After all, the Beverly Hills, 90210 alum said 2023 was quite the “turbulent year” as she faced “some massive health struggles, some massive personal struggles, a lot of heartbreak and fear” amid her ongoing battle with cancer.

“But with all of that,” she noted on the Dec. 25 episode of her Let’s Be Clear podcast, “I was actually saying this to myself the other night, ‘God, I think I’m actually starting to live the happiest version of myself.'”

The 52-year-old added, “Even though it’s been such a contentious year for me, for some reason it just feels it’s gotten a lot lighter lately and a lot more positive.”

In fact, Doherty—who filed for divorce from husband Kurt Iswarienko in April after 11 years of marriage—said that her heart “is opening back up” these days.

“This year is about just being incredibly grateful that we’re here and we get to spend time with the people that are by our sides through thick and thin, who don’t walk away, who love us unconditionally, and that have the same beliefs and morals and standards and people who have character,” she noted. “I’m just so thankful really to be here for it.”

Indeed, Doherty—who was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, before sharing in 2020 that her illness had returned following a period of remission—experienced several roadblocks this year. The Charmed star revealed in July that the cancer had metastasized to her brain. By November, she said the stage four condition had spread to her bones as well.

Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for Hallmark Channel

And just shortly before undergoing surgery to remove a brain tumor, Doherty said she uncovered an alleged affair between Iswarienko and another woman. “I went into that surgery early in the morning and I went in after I found out that my marriage was essentially over,” Doherty recalled on the Dec. 5 episode of her podcast, accusing Iswarienko of “carrying on an affair for two years.”

The Heathers actress continued, “I couldn’t go into that surgery with him there. I felt so betrayed.”

Iswarienko has not publicly spoken out about the accusations, though Doherty previously slammed a report citing sources close to the photographer that claimed the pair were in an open marriage prior to their breakup.

“The story supposedly comes from my husbands friends (soon to be ex) that he told me two years ago he was cheating on me and we have had an open marriage,” Doherty wrote on Instagram Dec. 12. “This is an absolute lie.”

Read on to see photos of Doherty through the years.