Alyssa Milano reveals she feels 'guilt' over Charmed tension with Shannen Doherty

Despite past tension between Charmed stars Shannen Doherty and Alyssa Milano, the latter says their relationship is in a better place than it was on the set of the beloved WB series.

The 48-year-old actress and activist opened up about her connection to Doherty both on the show and after, saying that she's "proud of Charmed," but still grapples with regret over how she handled friction between them during production.

"I would say we are cordial. I can take responsibility for a lot of our tension that we had, feeling that I was in competition rather than it being that sisterhood that the show was so much about," Milano told Entertainment Tonight in an interview for her new book, Sorry Not Sorry, which features essays about her life. "I have some guilt about my part in that."

Milano says Doherty's 2015 diagnosis with breast cancer prompted her to reach out to her former costar. She says she now sends the 50-year-old direct messages "every couple of months to check in" after Doherty announced that her cancer had returned in 2020 despite previously going into remission in 2017.

"I have respect for her. [She's a] great actress, loves her family so much, and I just wish I could've felt strong enough in who I was to recognize that [back] then," Milano finished.

Everett Collection Shannen Doherty and Alyssa Milano on 'Charmed.'

Doherty, Milano, and Holly Marie Combs played magically gifted sisters on Charmed for three seasons between 1998 and 2001, before Doherty's character was killed off in the season 3 finale. Though the original Charmed ended in 2006, The CW revived the show in 2018 with an all-new reboot (which was poorly received by OG cast members Combs and Rose McGowan) starring Melonie Diaz, Madeleine Mantock, and Sarah Jeffrey.

Elaborating on the contents of her new book, which also follows her influential impact on the #MeToo movement and ongoing social activism, Milano says she resisted making the book a tell-all bible for industry gossip.

"There was a potential for that," she explains, "but as I started writing, I felt really uncomfortable telling the secrets that I know. I didn't want to inflict pain on people."

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