Rose McGowan, 46, gave Charmed fans a special treat when she held an Instagram Live chat reunion with her former co-star Holly Marie Combs, 46, and went into never-before-known details about the show and its other stars Alyssa Milano, 47, and Shannen Doherty, 49. Alyssa and Shannen, who are known for having a feud with each other, came up in the conversation when a fan asked if the women “really hated each other.” Rose didn’t hesitate to respond and set the record straight with the truth.
“I’m pretty sure, yeah,” the actress said to the fan before giving a big smile to the camera and then saying “Shh don’t tell Holly I said that!” Rose’s cheeky answer wasn’t too surprising considering the alleged feud between Alyssa and Shannen made many headlines back in the day. Although the ladies initially hit it off and Shannen was even a bridesmaid in Alyssa’s wedding to former husband Cinjuna Tate in 1999, their friendship reportedly went downhill when filming season three of Charmed.
No reason was ever given for the tension that allegedly ensued but one theory was that Shannen was jealous of Alyssa’s ongoing popularity. Another theory was that Shannen was frustrated with the direction the show was going in and wasn’t shy about making her opinion known. Alyssa even once admitted to a time when she and Shannen only talked to each other when they needed to.
“There were times when I’d come in and say, ‘Good morning, Shannen,’ and she didn’t say anything to me,” she said to TV Guide in 2001. “And there were times when she’d come in and say, ‘Good morning, Alyssa,’ and I wouldn’t say anything to her.” After rumors began to swirl that the feud was causing producers of the show to pick one woman over the other, Shannen eventually left the series in 2001.
No matter what went on between Alyssa and Shannen on the show, it all seemed to dissipate when it was reported that Shannen’s breast cancer, which she battled in the past, had returned and was now in stage four, in Feb. 2020. Alyssa, like many other celebs, took to Twitter to tweet a loving message to her former co-star. “Holding you tight in my heart, @theshando 🙏,” the tweet read.
In addition to Alyssa and Shannen, Rose and Holly revealed that they think Charmed, which was on the air for eight seasons from 1998 until 2006, was the black sheep of Paramount/WB/CBS and because of that, no one will be interested in a future movie being made. Holly also said that if a movie was made, however, she thinks Netflix would be the network to do it and she thinks Shannen should direct it.
Check out the full stream with Rose and Holly in the video above.