Shannen Doherty's Charmed co-star Holly Marie Combs breaks silence after actress' death from cancer aged 53: 'A fierce fighter until the end'

Shannen Doherty's Charmed co-star Holly Marie Combs has broken her silence after the actress' tragic death from cancer 53 on Saturday.

Beverly Hills, 90210 star Doherty had been battling breast cancer since 2015 - with the disease spreading to her brain in June last year.

Combs, 50, who played Piper Halliwell in the long-running WB show Charmed, about a trio of witch sisters lauded Doherty for being a 'fierce fighter until the end.'

She wrote on Instagram: 'My better half of 31 years. There is a hollow in my chest and I can’t seem to catch my breath. A part of me is missing even though I know exactly what you would say to me right now. I know exactly what you would tell me to do right now.

'I know your undying spirit will live in me and my kids who you loved as your own. They will walk with your sense of purpose and pride.”

'They will be truthful and stand up for what is right. No matter what and zero f**ks given. Your fire will live on in them and the many other Charmed ones you helped raise. 

'A fierce fighter til the end. My most ardent champion. My loyal protector. My best friend. You taught me the meaning of family. You were and will be forevermore my sister. I love you.'

She accompanied the post with a series of snaps of the duo in happier times.

Combs and Doherty had further bonded in recent months when the former opened up about the behind-the-scenes drama between her,  Alyssa Milano and  Doherty on their hit series, Charmed.

While discussing the Beverly Hills, 90210 star's abrupt exit from the series in 2001 after its third season, on Doherty's podcast, Let's Be Clear, Combs revealed she had a meeting with show producer, Jonathan Levin, about her co-star's firing. 

Combs claimed Levin told her: 'We didn't mean to — but we've been backed into this corner — we're basically in this position where it's one or the other.' 

'We were told [by Alyssa] it's her or [Shannen] and Alyssa has threatened to sue us for a hostile workplace environment,' she recalled Levin telling her. 

On Sunday, Doherty's publicist Leslie Sloane confirmed the actor's death. 

'It is with a heavy heart that I confirm the passing of actress Shannen Doherty. On Saturday, July 13, she lost her battle with cancer after many years of fighting the disease,' Sloane told People. 

'The devoted daughter, sister, aunt and friend was surrounded by her loved ones as well as her dog, Bowie. The family asks for their privacy at this time so they can grieve in peace,' Sloane added. 

Doherty, who played Brenda Walsh in the hit 1990s show, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. 

Just two years later, the Charmed star revealed that the cancer had returned after going into remission. 

At the time, she told Good Morning America: 'It's going to come out in a matter of days or a week that I'm stage 4. So my cancer came back, and that's why I'm here. 

'I don't think I've processed it. It's a bitter pill to swallow in a lot of ways,' she said.

Last year she announced that her cancer had spread to her brain in an Instagram post that showed her undergoing radiation therapy.

In October 1990, Doherty starred in the original Beverly Hills 90210, but left the series after the fourth season in 1994. She came back to the show as a guest star in 2008 after it rebooted. 

Following the popular series, she went on to star in the witch drama, Charmed. Doherty played Prue Halliwell, the oldest of the three witch sisters. 

After directing several episodes of Charmed, Doherty left the series in 2001. She then moved on to reality television, as a contestant on Dancing with the Stars and in the show Breaking Up with Shannen Doherty. 

She joined the 2019 reboot of 90210 and played the adult version of Brenda Walsh. 

Doherty initially kept her diagnosis under wraps, but after her co-star Luke Perry suddenly died at 52 in 2019, she opened up about her health battle. 

Perry died on March 4 that year after he suffered a massive ischemic stroke at his home in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles.  

'It's so weird for me to be diagnosed and then somebody who was, you know, seemingly healthy to go first,'  Doherty said on Good Morning America in 2020.  'It was really, like, shocking.'