Jennie Garth revealed her former “Beverly Hills, 90210” co-star Luke Perry was her “first true love” when they worked together in the 90’s.
“Yeah. I do think he was my first true love,” Garth told People in an interview published on Wednesday as she promotes her forthcoming memoir, “I Choose Me: Chasing Joy, Finding Purpose, and Embracing Reinvention.”
“Now looking back, I’m like, ‘You were just like every other girl in the world,'” she reflected.
Garth details how she navigated her onscreen and off-screen relationship with Perry in her book, noting that she felt a jealousy for all of the guest stars that Perry flirted with.
“Everyone imagined him as their first true love. But it really was confusing. It got a little blurry at times. There were a lot of intimate conversations and moments between these two characters, and I think I got caught up in it and I allowed myself to think that it was real,” she told the outlet.
“I still believe that there was something real there,” she continued. “We had a very special relationship.”
“When Kelly was falling for Dylan, I was falling for Luke,” she writes of their flirtatious relationship, referencing their famous characters.
But eventually, things became clear for Garth after the two stars moved on with their real-life partners.
“All that confusion left for me, because he got married and I got married, and we became just really great friends. And that was just a silly dream. But my teenage self really believed it,” she said.
Perry went on to marry actress Rachel Sharp, who he stayed with from 1993 to 2003. They had two children together, son Jack and daughter Sophie.
After “Beverly Hills, 90210” concluded its run, Garth went on to tie the knot with Peter Facinelli in 2001. They welcomed three daughters: Luca, 28, Lola, 23, and Fiona, 19. They eventually called it quits and got a divorce in 2013.
In her book, Garth also recalls a low-point in her divorce. She detailed an incident where she ended up in the hospital after consuming alcohol and pills — resulting in having her stomach pumped.
Perry died in March 2019 at age 52 after suffering a major stroke.
On his death, Garth writes in her memoir that it “shook me to my core.”
“I felt paralyzed, unable and unwilling to speak. It was too big to comprehend, to devastating to accept,” she writes.
“I Choose Me: Chasing Joy, Finding Purpose, and Embracing Reinvention” will be released on April 14.
