Melissa Gilbert on her old rival, Shannen Doherty: ‘I’d punch her in the nose’

Melissa Gilbert

Anyone in the mood for some old-school gossip? I think Little House on the Prairie fans might appreciate this story. Melissa Gilbert is promoting her new children’s book, Daisy and Josephine. We haven’t heard much from her in a few years except that she married Timothy Busfield of Thirtysomething fame.

Melissa is 49 years old now, and I think she’s been tweaking. Or at least hitting the Botox. She stopped by the Andy Cohen show (on BravoTV), and she’s airing some old drama. Andy grilled her in a series of rapid-fire questions. A lot of the material comes from Melissa’s 2010 memoir, Prairie Tale, in which she accused Shannen of sleeping with her first husband (Bo Brinkman) in the 1990s. This was when Shannen was riding high on 90210 and thought she was untouchable. Shannen probably still feels that way even after getting canned from both 90210 and Charmed for being so difficult. Melissa says she’d love to slug Shannen in the face:

What would she say to Shannen now? “I wouldn’t say anything, I’d just punch her in the nose.”

What Rob Lowe said about her memoir: “He asked me to take out the word ‘pretty’ when I referred to him. ‘Please don’t call me pretty. I hate it when people call me pretty.'”

Why Rick James’ house was scary: “I thought I was going to get g*ang b*nged.”

She dated Tom Cruise: “Actually, when I dated him he was Tom Mapother still. It was when he first moved to Los Angeles and I think I was…16? 17? I did not have sex with him. We made out, but honestly, there was no sex, He was a good kisser, but you know, he was like a struggling, starving actor and I was working. I actually bought him his first set of dishes.”

[From Bravo TV]

The part about Shannen is kind of scary, right? The thing is, Melissa says it so sweetly that Shannen should be afraid. I’d be afraid if I was Shannen simply walking around in Hollywood — not only because of Melissa’s words but also because Shannen has burned so many bridges throughout her career.

The Tom Cruise stuff? Melissa was only 16 when it happened, but it’s still comical. Because it’s Tom Cruise, and he’s so uptight about everything.

Shannen Doherty

Melissa Gilbert

Screencaps courtesy of Bravotv.com, photos courtesy of WENN

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39 Responses to “Melissa Gilbert on her old rival, Shannen Doherty: ‘I’d punch her in the nose’”

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  1. eliza says:

    Is it a fact Doherty slept with her husband? If not, crazy Melissa needs to have a seat. The woman is strange. Always has been a bit off.

    • gg says:

      Shannen does have a terrible rep for being with other people’s men through the decades, and also for treating everybody else like crap.

      That said, Melissa should get over it because Shannen seems to be bearing the fruit of all her prior nastiness. Everything she does has bombed because she’s garned such a bad reputation and people don’t find her likeable. She had some horrible dating show awhile back that spoke volumes about how little work she can find. Revenge served cold, I’d say. The Universe is dealing with Shannen fine all by itself.

  2. Christin says:

    I wasn’t aware of any beef between the two women. Shannen was like a real-life Nellie Olsen, I guess.

    Melissa appears to have had work done during the past few years. I think it’s more than Botox. As for Tom, most of the stories about him from the early to mid 1980s paint him as relatively normal.

  3. Lisa says:

    She now resembles Melissa Rivers, which is a telltale sign of a mucho plastic surgery. Also, is Andy Cohen running out of guests? Because, please.

  4. Nicolette says:

    All I know is I love the photo I saw of her dog when she was leaving NBC. The dog has on a tulle/fur outfit and it’s nails are painted pink.

  5. Jackson says:

    For some reason awhile back I started following her on Twitter. She seems nice and normal and lives in Michigan now, at least part-time, I think. Shannen will be fine, lol.

  6. QQ says:

    Shannen Doherty is the reason that Shannen Doherty is making study from home cheesy commercials for late night tv and even her old coworkers avoid her like Typhoid Mary

  7. Mingy says:

    I’ve always heard that Shannen was a major bitch back then (maybe still is) but never had any info on what she did. Would love to know! I loved her on 90210 though.

  8. FingerBinger says:

    I hope Melissa is as angry at the ex-husband as she is with Shannen.

  9. lana86 says:

    Shannon ‘s face is sooo assymetric. Thats all i’ve got

  10. Mayamae says:

    I like her, but from what I hear she did herself no favors with that book. She was pretty unique in her prime. You don’t see an arguably homely actress become a lead on a TV show and date the hottest guys in Hollywood in this day and age.

    • jaye says:

      I don’t think it’s that she’s homely, she’s just not “Hollywood girl” attractive. She’s “regular girl” attractive.

    • Petee says:

      I read her book and she is no angel either.Personality wise or sexual wise.She came across as a bitch really and she wrote the book.And she is homely a not remotely attractive.Regular girl’s are way better looking then Melissa.And I like Shannon.Say what you might about her personality but she was the Lindsey of her day.Loved her on 90210 AND as Prue on Charmed.

  11. Renee says:

    I have to say, I LOVE Shannen Doherty!!!! I disagree with her political affiliations and her behavior but da-yum, the woman is good for gossip!!!

  12. Bridgett says:

    I could be wrong, but isn’t there a lot of shadiness with Gilbert herself? Just because she played Laura Ingalls Wilder doesn’t mean she’s spotless. And I can’t believe she married Busfield, ugh. Did the allegations against him ever get resolved?

    • jaye says:

      What were the allegations against him?

      • Bridgett says:

        Sexual battery. And he’s been accused of sexual harrassment at least a couple of times over the years.

      • springingforward says:

        While he was here in Minnesota filming a movie some time ago, word was rampant that he was chasing after and harassing the 18 year old extras on set.

    • holly hobby says:

      Before Tim B, she was married to Bruce “Scarecrow” Boxleitner for a long long time. They were still married when she published her bio. I don’t know why it fell apart.

      She also had disparaging comments about Melissa Sue Anderson (Mary).

      • ol cranky says:

        No, not Melissa Sue Anderson – that’s just plain wrong so say bad stuff about the girl who played Mary and the protagonist in a little known horror movie called happy birthday to me!

      • BettyD says:

        To be fair, the girl played Nellie Oleson also said Melissa Sue was kind of a weirdo (in her own book: Confessions of a Prairie Bitch.)

  13. Arock says:

    “….you think she’s had a little work done or she’s been hitting the Botox…”? In a word, yes. Yes she has. But she’s always been a little wonky looks-wise and touched in the brain. Maybe it’s child stardom or just a natural state but I get the distinct impression she’s one of those people who self medicate a little too much.

  14. Dawn says:

    Well part of me likes that Shannen will kick anyone’s butt that makes her mad and the other part of me wishes she could cool her jets so she could work more!

  15. kellyinseattle says:

    I lo ved Little House because of Michael Landon and she was a good child actor…She looks terrible….hate to think of what she’ll look like down the road…

  16. Harper says:

    Didn’t Shannen Doherty play Melissa Gilbert’s niece on Little House? That just adds an extra layer of messed up to this, lol.

  17. Melissa’s always had work done. She talked about it pretty extensively in her memoirs she wrote before her split with Bruce Boxleitner.

  18. If I were her husband I would be pretty annoyed by this comment. Shannen slept with her ex – get over it. The opposite of love isn’t hate; it’s indifference, and that holds true for the 3rd parties that are sometimes involved in divorce. Poor Timothy.

  19. Becky1 says:

    I think it’s odd that she said she’d punch her. It happened 20+ years ago and Shannon was really young at the time. Not that being young excuses Shannon’s behavior but if it indeed did happen the real blame needs to be placed on Melissa’s ex-husband. He’s the one that was married. I’m also assuming that he was several years older than Shannon.

  20. Skye says:

    Girlfriend needs to lay off the anti-aging technology. If Nellie Olsen was here, she’d talk some shit.