Brian Austin Green is recognizing Shannen Doherty‘s strength.
On Thursday, the Beverly Hills, 90210 star, 50, shared high praise for his former co-star amid her journey with stage 4 breast cancer.
“Shannen is loved and she should be,” Green told PEOPLE ahead of the latest episode of his iHeartRadio podcast Oldish — which was released on Friday — and following Doherty’s standing ovation at 90s Con in Tampa, Florida last weekend.
“She is a fighter. She’s been facing challenges over the last, gosh, decade now that are just, they’re difficult things. And she is absolutely leading by example and showing people that even in the toughest of times, you can keep your head up and you can be a good person,” he said, adding, “and she is, she’s an amazing person, and I think she’s an inspiration for people, she should be.”
Green’s comments come days after Doherty, 52, received an emotional standing ovation from fans and friends at the convention, toward the end of the show’s panel hosted by PEOPLE Senior Editor Breanne L. Heldman on Sunday.
Tori Spelling, Jason Priestley, Jennie Garth, Ian Ziering, and Gabrielle Carteris also took part in the panel, which ended following the heartfelt moment.
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“Thank you so much,” she told the crowd at the time, as she teared up. “You guys know how much I love crying constantly. And I do, it seems. So, thank you.”
Back in June, the actress revealed that her cancer had spread to her brain, as she updated fans on a tumor being removed from her head. She was initially diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, was in remission in 2017, and revealed her stage 4 diagnosis in 2020.
Doherty, who launches her podcast Let’s Be Clear in November, even shared her own praise at 90s Con for Green and his new podcast, which she called “amazing.”
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During the same interview with PEOPLE on Thursday, Green, fianceé Sharna Burgess and fellow 90210 alum Randy Spelling opened up about the new iHeartPodcast, which is set to follow the three as they explore their past and discuss their personal growth.
The show, Oldish, came about after an initial congratulatory message from Spelling, 44, to Green after the birth of his son Zane.
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“So Brian, when he had Zane, when him and Sharna had Zane, I congratulated him on Instagram and then he said, ‘Oh, hey, good to see you. Let’s talk sometime,” Spelling tells PEOPLE, explaining that Green later sent him a late-night message about an idea for a podcast.
“I didn’t get the text till early in the morning and [Green] said, ‘Hey, I was thinking about this, I used to love the show, Loveline. And with Adam Carolla and Dr. Drew. I would love to do a podcast where we are just tackling real issues and problems and speaking to people and putting that kind of energy out there. Would you be interested?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, let’s talk,'” he says
Spelling then adds that they talked a week later and, “it just seemed like a great idea where we were all at, it felt like a good fit.”
“Randy had been asked a bunch of times to do podcasts and be a part of other things, but the fact that he joined us, we are very, very grateful because he is an amazing, wonderful, very, very good at what he does. Addition to us just rambling along about our own life experiences,” Burgess adds.
“So Sharna and I are much more used to this life, doing these interviews and being a bit more in the public. Randy has been living in Portland and he’s been a professional life coach for 15-plus years. And he’s been in his own world doing that,” Green then tells PEOPLE.
“So it was a much bigger ask from us to him to do something like this than it was for him to join with us. I’m sure the culture shock for him in this is, there’s a bit there, but he’s handling it like a champ,” he adds.
The podcast has already featured its first bombshell revelation, too. Burgess, 38, and Green revealed during Friday’s episode that they have now been engaged for two months, after Green “did the thing” during a surprise birthday party held by Burgess in June.
The professional dancer called the proposal the “most perfect, beautiful moment,” since it included help from Green’s son Journey River, 7, whom he shares with ex-wife Megan Fox. Green and Burgess share son Zane Walker, 1, while Green is also dad to Journey, Noah Shannon, 10, Bodhi Ransom, 9, (whom he shares with Fox), and son Kassius Lijah, 21 (who he shares with ex-girlfriend Vanessa Marcil).
Of their future with wedding planning, Burgess told PEOPLE at the iHeartRadio Music Festival Friday: “We haven’t even talked about it at all. We had such a full busy life with things and four kids at home and we’re in no rush.”
“Honestly, I’m so grateful to be able to say he’s my fiancé, not my boyfriend now.”
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