Toronto.com April 5th 2012
Beverly Hills, 90210 alum Shannen Doherty lets it all hang out for her fans in a new reality TV show, ShannenSays, debuting in the U.S. on Tuesday on the cable channel WE tv. It chronicles the weeks leading up to Doherty’s wedding to photographer Kurt Iswarienko. Clips circulating on the Internet have showed Doherty surprising Iswarienko with the idea of a pre-nup and going bridezilla on him when he wants to play football with friends instead of staying home and helping with wedding planning. But in a conference call with the media, Doherty said being authentic in the show meant “baring the good, the bad and the ugly.” Here’s an edited version of the chat:

Q: What would you say is the biggest misconception about you?

A: I guess the biggest misconception is that I only have one side to me. People don’t ever consider there is a softer and more vulnerable side, or they don’t consider what was behind some of the antics when I was very young.

Q: What compelled you to do this show? Whose idea was it?

A: It was mine and it was shared with my husband. It was one of those moments where we were on vacation, and maybe we had drank one too many margaritas and thought it would be kind of interesting to do something together.

Q: What were your initial concerns about filming the reality series?

A: I think the initial concern is always the same thing of how much privacy and how much of myself am I giving up. What goes hand in hand with that is that whatever you do, at all costs, you want to be authentic and truthful, and for us the only way to do it right was to be ourselves. That means baring the good, the bad and the ugly, and with that comes fear and trepidation.

Q: What was the most unexpected element of planning the wedding?

A: I think the craziest thing was two weeks prior to the wedding, my wedding dresses showed up and they were completely wrong. Wrong to the point of I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, so I just did both and was an absolute hysterical mess.

Q: What do you think are people going to be most surprised (about) by watching the show?

A: Although I’m known for being brutally honest, I don’t think anybody would assume that I would put my life out there and my emotions and my heart and my soul: they’re basically on a chopping block right now. I don’t think anybody would expect me to do something like that and the show is nothing if it’s not honest.

Q: What’s different about planning your third wedding, especially for television?

A: Everything. I don’t think it’s about what’s different about your third wedding; I think it’s what’s different about this wedding. It’s because this is for real. I met a man that just lights me up. I met someone who makes me laugh, who makes me smile, who makes me happy. It’s a totally different thing, so planning a wedding with him was meaningful and significant. It’s also the first time I declared my love for somebody in front of my family.

Q: How’s newlywed life?

A: Things couldn’t be better. Married life is amazing and I can only say that because of my partner. It’s the little things. It’s when he comes home and the first thing he does is comes into my office, wraps his arms around me and says I love you, missed you, even though he was only gone for two hours. It’s a relationship I’ve dreamed about my entire life and the closest thing that I’ve ever had to what my parents had, which was so unbelievably beautiful and special. So married life is phenomenal.