Shannen Doherty thinks dad's illnesses influenced choice in men due to 'feelings of abandonment'
'Charmed' actress Shannen Doherty has admitted her father's health struggles had a lasting impact on her choices in men.
Shannen Doherty thinks her father's illnesses influenced her romantic choices.
The 53-year-old actress has reflected candidly on her late father John Thomas Doherty Jr - who died in 2010 - and the various health issues he was battling, and the 'Charmed' star admitted it gave her "feelings of abandonment".
Speaking on her own 'Let's Be Clear with Shannen Doherty' podcast, she said: "I think watching him go in and out of the hospital and the fear that I constantly felt of, is this going to be the last time I see him?
"Is he going to die? Is he not going to come out of the hospital?”
The former' Beverly Hills, 90210' actress - who has been married three times - explained that she realises it's something she has been "projecting" onto herself, rather than her dad directly influencing her.
She continued: “But it wasn't like he was doing that to me.
"It was more that I was projecting that onto myself because I was so scared that the most important man in my life was not going to be there, that there was parts of me that sort of shut down as I got older.
“And I think I definitely, we've discussed this before, you guys, where I chose men that were not like my dad, that were not that kind and that gracious and that great.”
Meanwhile, Shannen has debated getting an emotional tattoo tribute to her late father, but she decided against it due to risk of injection.
She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 before going into remission two years later, but she revealed the disease had returned at Stage 4 in February 2020, while last summer she revealed it had spread to her brain and become terminal.
She recently said: "I want one like right down my side. I’ve been wanting it, my dad’s name."
But she added: "I’m just like it’s alright, I don’t need it. It’s also once you get, you know, like I can’t get infections — there’s a whole, not like you’re gonna get something from the tattoo."
