Shannen Doherty and Tori Spelling go way back.

Given that Shannen Doherty’s cancer has metastasized to her bones and to her brain, her threshold for what “depresses” her should be fairly high.

But Tori Spelling’s relationship blunders are apparently enough to bewilder and sadden her.

For years, Shannen has been urging Tori to take her relationship advice to heart.

Shannen Doherty is offering Tori Spelling some tough love

On the Thursday, April 25 episode of Tori Spelling’s misSPELLING podcast, Shannen Doherty appeared as her guest (this was actually her second consecutive guest spot).

Both women discussed their current statuses, as both are (fairly) newly single. Navigating the dating scene after a lengthy hiatus is not easy.

“It’s all so fresh I’m not sure what I even want,” Tori acknowledged. With her date of separation from Dean McDermott being June 17 of 2023, her last time dating was in the era of AIM, flip phones, and color-coded terror alert levels.

In Tori’s mind, fame — with or without financial or professional success — can end up being “emasculating” to men. Tori seemed to hold the attitude that she should shy away from this, but Shannen disagreed.

“That’s what I want. I want a man who’s proud to be with me and he wouldn’t cheat, wouldn’t lie, because he’s so scared of losing me,” Shannen expressed. “But also a man that’s really proud of my success and what I’ve accomplished.”

Shannen then advised her friend: “And that’s what I really want you to be looking for right now. Not a man that you can dominate. Not a man that puts you down. Not a man that has red flags.”

To Tori, Shannen was wishing for the impossible

Tori told Shannen that she “disagreed” with Shannen’s relationship goals — because she doesn’t believe that a man could be secure enough to celebrate her fame without resenting it. Not even if he were successful on his own.

“That’s depressing,” Shannen accurately obsessed. “Do you really think Keith Urban worries about Nicole Kidman?”

She then reassured Tori that, when it comes to finding a secure partner: “It is possible, in my opinion.” 

Tori Spelling had the insight to acknowledge that self-sabotage plays a role when she pursues new romantic relationships.

“I preemptively make myself small and plummet myself and sabotage myself from building my career,” she admitted.

“Don’t ever make yourself small for anyone,” Shannen Doherty then instructed her.

“I’ve been telling you that for 30 frickin’ years,” Shannen reminded her.

“You really have. I didn’t listen,” Tori acknowledged. Her friend hoped that she would listen to her next words and take them to heart.

“You’ve never really owned your power. And you’ve always been insecure. And you’ve always had a little bit of fear and you’ve always settled for a lot less than you deserved,” Shannen counseled her. “And it’s time to change that and you’re on the right track. … You have power in you, you just haven’t tapped into it fully.”