Original Charmed Star Regrets Not Returning for Finale
Shannen Doherty says she regrets not returning as Prue for the fans.
When the original Charmed ended its eight-season run in 2006, the fan-favorite series concluded without an appearance from an original Halliwell sister, Prue. Now, nearly twenty years later, Shannen Doherty is opening up about how the iconic series ended and says that not returning as Prue for the Charmed series finale for the fans is something she regrets — but it is also the only thing she regrets when it comes to Charmed's end. In the latest episode of her Let's Be Clear With Shannen Doherty podcast, Doherty says that while she regrets not doing it for the fans, it would have wrecked her personally to have returned.
"I regret it in one sense," Doherty said (via Entertainment Weekly). "I regret it for the fans. But I don't regret it for me, because I was so incredibly wrecked from getting fired that, I think, even years, years, years later, had I walked on that set, it just would've stirred everything back up for me. And it would have crushed me all over again."
Doherty was one of the original stars of Charmed, playing Prue Halliwell the eldest Halliwell sister. However, Doherty departed the series after just three seasons and, on a December 2023 episode of Doherty's podcast, Holly Marie Combs — who played Piper Halliwell — revealed that she had been told by series producer Jonathan Levin at the time that fellow co-star Alyssa Milano had given them an ultimatum that led to Doherty's firing from the series. Doherty was ultimately replaced by Rose McGowan, who joined the series as Paige in Season 4.
"'We didn't mean to, but we've been backed into this corner — we're basically in this position where it's one or the other,'" Combs recalls Jonathan Levin saying at the time. "'We were told [by Alyssa] it's her or [Shannen] and Alyssa has threatened to sue us or a hostile workplace environment.'"
"I lived a year after that sort of replaying everything in my brain and really trying to find those moments. I don't ever remember being mean to her on set," Doherty added. "I remember an episode I directed where she did something on the Christmas break and they asked me to work around some things with her and I had no problem with it. I couldn't have been more kind and understanding."
"I wish I had been older and wiser, because I definitely would have sued, and I would have been honest about the situation," Doherty continued. "The rumors followed me regardless. The rumors were there and I wasn't getting paid. It makes you look crazy when you leave a hit show only after three seasons."
Alyssa Milano Addressed The Claims Back in February
"I knew this was going to come up in one way or another, and I want to be very thoughtful in how I respond to any of this, and I will just say that I'm sad," Milano told the audience at MegaCon in Orlando. "I don't think it's really that I'm sad for me or my life or how it does or does not affect my life."
"I'm the most sad for the fans. I am the most sad that a show that has meant so much to so many people has been tarnished by a toxicity that is still to this day almost a quarter of a century later still happening," she continued. "I'm sad that people can't move past it. I'm sad that we all can't just celebrate the success of a show that meant so much to all of us. I have worked super hard in my life in the last 25 years to heal all of my trauma, and that's not just all the trauma that I experienced while shooting but all of my trauma. I've worked really hard to heal the bits because I understand that hurt people hurt people and my intention is to be a healed person that helps heal people," she added.
