Why Shannen Doherty Believes Her Father's Illnesses Affected Her Choices in Men: 'There's Only a Few That Mattered'

Shannen Doherty reflects on her romantic relationships – and how her late father may have influenced her choices.

On Father’s Day, June 16, Enchanted The alum, 53, posted a new episode about her Let’s be clear with Shannen Doherty podcast called “Let’s Talk About Fathers…with Shannen Doherty.”

The actress was candid about seeing her father John Thomas Doherty Jr. suffering from various health problems before his death in 2010 influenced how she chose the men she would let into her life.

Shannen Doherty and her father John Thomas Doherty Jr.

Shannen Doherty/Instagram

“I think watching him go in and out of the hospital and the fear I constantly felt, is this going to be the last time I see him? Will he die? Won’t he get out of the hospital?” Doherty explained.

According to the actress, the uncertainty brought a “feeling of abandonment.”

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“But it wasn’t like he was doing it to me. I was projecting it more on myself because I was so scared that the most important man in my life wouldn’t be there, that there were parts of me that kind of shut down as I got older,” said Doherty. “And I think definitely, we’ve talked about it before, you guys, where I chose men who weren’t like my father, who weren’t as kind and as kind and as great.”

The Beverly Hills, 90210 alum was married three times.

Her ex-husband, Rick Salomon, to whom she was married from 2002 to 2003, appeared as a guest on her podcast in early May.

The former couple joked during the interview that their marriage was short.

Shannen Doherty and Rick Salomon.

Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage

“I think we got married in 2002, in January. I just looked. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have any idea – said the actress. “And we got an annulment in May of 2003. So technically we don’t have to call each other ex-wife and ex-husband because we’re annulled, but we still do.”

In April, Doherty’s ex-fiancé Rob Weiss joined her on an episode of the podcast.

Shannen Doherty and Rob Weiss.

Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty

While Weiss was on the show, The Little House on the Prairie Talent said she wanted to honor her late father with a tattoo, but said she couldn’t because her stage 4 breast cancer diagnosis meant she couldn’t risk getting an infection from the needle.

Weiss did his best to keep the conversation upbeat, joking that it was never his intention to “take you to some back alley tattoo parlor.”

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The couple got engaged in 1995 before splitting in 1998.

Speaking on Father’s Day, Doherty added: “I chose men so that if they kicked me and left me, they wouldn’t necessarily break my heart, that I would survive and be fine and probably move on quickly. Only a few mattered to me, and they know who they are, as do you.”

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Source: HIS Education