Shannen Doherty Reveals She Had Brain Surgery After Discovering Her Husband Had Cheated
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The actress opened up about her divorce for the first time on the launch episode of her new podcast 'Let's Be Clear with Shannen Doherty'
Shannen Doherty is sharing how two of the most difficult moments of her life coincided.
Speaking on the launch episode of her new podcast, Let’s Be Clear with Shannen Doherty, on Tuesday, the Beverly Hills, 90210 actress and cancer advocate, 52, shared how she went into surgery to remove a brain tumor after learning that her 11-year marriage to her third husband Kurt Iswarienko was “essentially over.”
“I went into that surgery early in the morning and I went in after I found out that my marriage was essentially over, that my husband had been carrying on an affair for two years,” she said. “To not go in that surgery, even though, being very clear, he wanted to go, I couldn't go into that surgery with him there. I felt so betrayed.”
The Charmed alum said that she discovered Iswarienko, whom she announced her divorce from in April, had been cheating on her for two years.
“At the end of the day, I just felt so incredibly unloved by someone I was with for 14 years, by someone I loved with all my heart,” Doherty continued, adding that she was supported through the operation by her mom, brother and best friends.
“Just to have to go through all of that while trying to figure out if you’re going to get a f——————— divorce and trying to get to the truth of that,” she added.
The star, who has been receiving treatment for cancer over the last eight years, underwent surgery and radiation on her brain at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in January, the same month she and Iswarienko separated. The couple cited "irreconcilable differences" in their divorce filing.
Doherty went on to share on her podcast that she became “obsessed” with finding out the truth of her photographer husband’s infidelity “through conversations, expecting someone to be honest with me.”
“If you share 14 years together and you cheated, doesn’t that person deserve the absolute truth regardless of how much that hurts them?” she said, adding that she “also spoke to the girlfriend of two years that he cheated on me with.”
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Shannen Doherty“It was embarrassing, she continued. “I am horrified that I can’t keep a relationship together. I think it is a reflection me, but this one I think this one is on him. I’ve failed three times at marriage, but I still believe in love.” Doherty was previously married to Ashley Hamilton from 1993 to 1994, and Rick Salomon from 2002 to 2003.
“I also take some responsibility for the demise of our marriage — actually that’s not true. Let me rephrase that, I do not take responsibility for the demise of our marriage, I take responsibility for some of the issues in our marriage,” she explained. “I take responsibility not only because of how I was but because of how cancer impacted my marriage and how it impacted him the second time around.”
Doherty went on to reveal how she “couldn’t” walk away from the pair’s relationship “right away” despite the infidelity. “I was so confused and I was also on steroids and a lot of stuff from brain surgery because they didn’t want my brain to swell,” she said. “And honestly, it’s still really hard. Yes I made the decision to file for divorce, but I have a lot of memories with this person.”
During a cover interview with PEOPLE last week, Doherty revealed that she was “open” to finding love again.
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“I don’t think I’m going to be single forever,” she said. “I have to love myself and reckon with the past, really, before I can move forward, and now I’m pretty sure I’ll meet somebody — hopefully soon.”
In the same cover shoot, Doherty also shared that her cancer had spread to her bones. She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, before revealing in February 2020 that she had been diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer. In June of this year, she then revealed that the cancer had also spread to her brain.
A representative for Kurt Iswarienko did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.
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