Shannen Doherty: Terror made me train as pilot

The 39-year-old actress is best known for her role as Brenda Walsh in 90s television show Beverly Hills, 90210, although as well as being a talented thespian she’s also training to gain her pilot’s license.

Shannen has now spoken out about the hair-raising experience which prompted her decision to master the airways.

“My boyfriend is a pilot and we were up in the air, he was flying going from Napa to Palm Springs and we had so much turbulence it was beyond scary. I was... tears pouring down my face, I thought that we were gonna die, it was gonna tip over, it was rocking,” she told Perez Hilton.

“I had that moment where I turned and I went, ‘He’s gonna have a heart attack, cos he was like sweating and I’m gonna be up in the air and just because he dies why should I die, I should learn how to fly. At least I could land and possibly get him to the hospital in time.’”

Shannen has been married twice, to Ashley Hamilton and then Rick Salomon, although their marriage was annulled in 2003. She has more recently been linked to Kurt Iswarienko, and admits she’s pleased with the way her love life is going at the moment. The talented actress says she would like to have children “one day”, and thinks it would be good to adopt as well as having her own.