00:00A lot of bad things happened to Kelly Taylor,
00:02and I loved every minute of it.
00:04What I would do to go out with Dylan McKay.
00:06I don't know, everyone says he's trouble.
00:09Well, he can trouble me all he wants.
00:11There's something so fun about playing a character
00:13that's really different than you.
00:18I had no idea what Beverly Hills was or was like.
00:21Like, everybody in the world, we all wanted to see it
00:24and be in it and live like that.
00:26I was the same.
00:27You got a nose job.
00:29Yeah, I did.
00:31Stepping into the shoes of someone from Beverly Hills
00:34was at first really uncomfortable
00:35because I didn't know anybody like that.
00:38And I was just kind of making it up as I went
00:41and really playing into the dialogue that was written,
00:45you know, and really just doing my best
00:46to give them what they wanted.
00:49Choosing to, you know, jump into the world of entertainment
00:52and in the show business industry, it happened so fast.
00:56And I was not equipped for just a regular life at that time,
01:02let alone that kind of fame and, you know, notoriety across the world.
01:08Like, you know, it was weird.
01:10It was like the Beatles and there was no preparation for it.
01:14As the show progressed over the years, there was a lot of the real me
01:17that went into her character and really started to explore, like, conflict,
01:23getting to play all those different levels
01:25and share all those different, you know, stories of her survival
01:28through all of these challenges in her life.
01:31And it really did touch, it resonated with a lot of girls out there
01:34and women watching it.
01:36Well, you'll just have to go change.
01:37No, you're going to have to go change.
01:39Brenda, I am a spring princess.
01:40Kelly, I don't give a damn.
01:42We were written as characters to be against each other.
01:46And that translated into the media and into the audience
01:51and then into the world's perception of our relationship.
01:54And that, in turn, was confusing for both of us, I think.
02:00It brought that to the forefront more than the friendship
02:03and the admiration that we really did innately have for one another.
02:07You know, she's an Aries, I'm an Aries.
02:09She was very closely connected with her parents
02:14and her father's health challenges.
02:17I, too, was going through the same exact thing at the same time.
02:20And there were a lot of adult things happening for both of us.
02:23We were doing the best we could.
02:25And sometimes strong women will clash, especially when they're young
02:30and sort of uneducated about friendship and the importance of it.
02:36The whole world pitted us against one another.
02:38I was just looking at, like, a...
02:41It's embarrassing to say.
02:42I was just looking at a teeny bop magazine the other day,
02:44like, looking at old pictures.
02:46And I was looking on one page about, like,
02:49oh, Jenny Garth, great life, Midwestern values, what a sweetie.
02:53And then flipped the page over, and it was like,
02:56join the I Hate Brenda fan club.
02:58And it really dawned on me, like, it wasn't just us.
03:02This was happening.
03:04This energy was coming at us from everywhere and pitting us, you know.
03:09And I think that they did that so often with young women
03:12who didn't know better back then.
03:14It was a better story for the show, you know.
03:18And I just realized that how terrible that was,
03:23how terrible it was to put us in that position,
03:25and nobody was guiding us.
03:28Nobody was getting therapy then.
03:30Nobody was talking to us about things.
03:33We were both just fending for ourselves.
03:36It did reach points of conflict.
03:40But at the end of the day,
03:42we really did have a respect for one another,
03:44us strong women who have lasted a long time in this industry.
03:47She taught me a lot.
03:49She taught me a lot of really good things
03:51about being strong, standing up for myself,
03:55using my voice.
03:56I'm forever grateful for her
03:58and for the relationship that we had,
04:00even though at times it was complicated.
04:03It was still really good.
04:05So far, we've kissed each other in your living room
04:07in my cabana, and we got in the water today.
04:10So what, are you making the list?
04:12There's another one.
04:13I think Luke was my first real love.
04:16Now looking back, I'm like,
04:17you were just like every other girl in the world.
04:20Everyone imagined him as their first true love.
04:23But it really was confusing.
04:25It was really, it got a little blurry at times.
04:27A lot of intimate conversations
04:30and moments between these two characters.
04:32I got caught up in it, you know,
04:35and I allowed myself to think that it was real.
04:37But at the same time,
04:39I still believe that there was something real there.
04:42You know, we had a very special relationship
04:44and we're very fond of one another
04:46and very supportive of one another as we got older.
04:50And we became just really great friends
04:53and all that confusion left for me
04:55because he got married and I got married.
04:57And it was like, that was just a silly dream.
05:01But my teenage self really believed it
05:05and it had a huge impact on
05:09my sort of view of love and relationships.
05:13And, you know, my character was caught up
05:15in a lot of love triangles.
05:17You don't care about her.
05:18I don't.
05:19I'm the one you love, right?
05:21You are.
05:24It only makes it worse, Brandon.
05:26Even Brandon ended up being unfaithful to Kelly.
05:30Like, of all people, Brandon Walsh.
05:32So there was so many messages of
05:36it's risky to love.
05:38It's dangerous to love someone.
05:40So I lived my life pretty guarded
05:42in the relationship world
05:44until I found that that didn't work for me either.
05:47I'm not going to give you up without a fight.
05:49Did I ever make out with Jason in real life?
05:51Nope, I did not.
05:52He and I were very close.
05:54We're like brother and sister.
05:56So much love for one another.
05:57But no, we kept it to Brandon and Kelly.
06:00I've made my choice and I choose me.
06:03I hope you understand.
06:06I'll love you both till the day I die.
06:08It's so crazy to be bringing this message back
06:11that Kelly Taylor said in 1995.
06:15Yeah, she was asked at a certain point
06:18to choose between Brandon and Dylan,
06:21which we all know is an impossible choice
06:23if you're a fan of the show.
06:25But she very boldly in that moment said,
06:30I choose me.
06:31And the writer, my friend Jessica Klein
06:35that wrote that, we had talks about it
06:38and I never really understood.
06:40Like at that age, I didn't get it.
06:42But now as a woman, after all these years,
06:46it started to really resonate with me and come back.
06:50Made me think like we all need to be reminded
06:53that we have that choice.
06:54We have a choice to choose ourselves.
06:56And I kept meeting women that grew up with the show
06:59and they said to me,
07:02when I heard Kelly say I choose me,
07:04it dawned on me that I have the choice in life
07:07to choose myself.
07:08I didn't ever, I never understood that.
07:10I never knew that I had the choice to choose myself.
07:13And then I just, it just was like a light bulb
07:15that I was like,
07:16I have to amplify that message still in 2026.
07:20A few years ago, I was feeling really lost.
07:24I was bored, I was depressed.
07:27So many people talk so much about purpose.
07:30I wanted to find my purpose.
07:32I think when I turned 50,
07:34I started to really question what next.
07:36It's been a movement for me personally,
07:38just to come into this phase in my life
07:40that I do feel comfortable choosing myself.
07:44And it's taken a while.
07:46Even though I said it so many years ago,
07:49you know, it's taken a while to fully live that
07:51and breathe it.
07:53And I just want that for all women.
07:55And if one person reads this book
07:57and feels like it's okay to have a voice,
08:00it's okay to let my light shine,
08:01and it's okay to let go of anger and resentment,
08:06I'm glad I wrote the book.
08:08I have a tattoo that says, I love you.
08:10It's a message to myself.
08:11I got that long before the I choose me idea
08:15even came back into my mind.
08:17It's just to remind myself
08:20that we're in this together.
08:22Like I got you, everything's good.
08:24We're going to be fine.
08:25There's nothing you can't handle.
08:26This one says,
08:28the triple beat of your lips on my forehead,
08:30strength, courage, and wisdom.
08:32And that is a tradition that still to this day,
08:36when I put my girls to bed at night,
08:38like they'll say goodnight to them.
08:40I kiss them on the forehead three times
08:42and they say, strength, courage, and wisdom.
08:44These things I give to you.
08:46And it's become this tradition for us.
08:49And they literally lay there
08:50and wait for me to kiss them
08:51on the forehead three times.
08:52And each of them really embodies
08:54each of those words.
08:55Strength is for Fiona.
08:56Courage is for Lola.
08:58And wisdom is for Luca.
08:59We were just talking about that recently,
09:01how interesting it is
09:02that their lives have sort of like
09:05been representative of needing
09:07to hear those messages along the way.
09:10And I never really planned it out,
09:11but it's something that really resonates with them.
09:14I definitely was born to be a mom.
09:16I've always said of anything I've ever done,
09:18being a mom is what I'm best at.
09:20Back on 90210, I had a baby
09:22and it really did sort of separate me
09:24from the rest of the group
09:25because every second that I had to myself,
09:28I would run back to the trailer
09:29and be with my baby and, you know,
09:32breastfeed and all the things
09:33that you do as a mom.
09:34And it really did sort of change the dynamics,
09:37which I was fine with,
09:39but I didn't notice it.
09:40I had my second baby on What I Like About You
09:43on that set.
09:45And it just sort of just became like,
09:47now I don't go anywhere without my dog.
09:48Like I never went anywhere without my kids.
09:50So I just like to have something.
09:54I feel like my children really grounded me
09:56in a world of just chaos and fast momentum
10:00and things coming at you so quickly.
10:03They really grounded me into
10:06stop focusing so much on yourself
10:08and focus on this other person,
10:10this other human that needs you.
10:11It really was my saving grace.
10:13I've just always been like a feelings person.
10:16I was told a lot that I was too emotional,
10:19which I was really confused by
10:21because that seemed to be my bread and butter.
10:24Like I was an actress
10:25and I got to emote a lot
10:26in those 10 years as that character.
10:29And then I started to be convinced
10:30that being emotional was a bad thing
10:33and that it was too much
10:35for other people to handle.
10:36So I really started to sort of
10:39squash it down, hide it,
10:41not allow my feelings to come to the surface,
10:43and then ultimately not allowing my voice
10:45to be heard at all
10:46because I was just too afraid
10:48of how that would affect other people.
10:51I really learned that having emotions
10:54is my superpower.
10:56I feel like my girls love it.
11:00They love coming home to me
11:01and having their emotions.
11:02I say I'm not emotional.
11:04I'm emotionful.
11:05And I think that's how we should all see it.
11:08It's a beautiful thing.
11:13My whole life has been sort of things
11:15just coming at me.
11:16Fame, marriage, divorce, marriage, divorce, children.
11:20It's always been happening
11:22and I've just been swimming
11:23and trying to keep up
11:24and really doing the best I could do.
11:28I sort of reached a point
11:29where I didn't want to fly
11:30by the seat of my pants anymore.
11:31I wanted to look at life
11:33and see the goals that I had
11:35and see the dreams
11:36that I had never really explored
11:38and move forward with intention
11:40to some degree.
11:42My marriage with Dave
11:43was one of those choices.
11:45We made a decision quickly to get married.
11:47Like six months in, we were married.
11:49In retrospect, we, you know,
11:51I wouldn't advise that to my own kids.
11:54And luckily they have all taken their time
11:56with their boyfriends.
11:57There's things you don't know
11:59and you don't see coming.
12:00I've really wanted to give Dave a baby
12:02because he was young
12:03and all of his friends were having kids
12:06and I just thought that's what he needed.
12:09And I assumed
12:10and I just made that the story in my head.
12:12And I tried everything in my power
12:14to do that for him
12:16all the while thinking,
12:18how do I really want another baby?
12:20I've been blessed
12:21and so fortunate
12:21with three that are healthy
12:23and, you know, doing well.
12:25And what if I have another one
12:27and it's different
12:28or I'll be older?
12:29I don't know how it would work.
12:30And also I need my sleep.
12:33Like I finally reached that point
12:34where I had done all the hardest work,
12:37but I was still willing
12:39and really determined
12:40to try to give him a baby
12:42and it just wasn't in the cards for us.
12:44And I think learning a lot
12:46about taking a person for their word
12:49because he told me,
12:50I don't need to have a child.
12:52Like I'm just happy to live life with you
12:54and these kids
12:56that are now my stepchildren.
12:57I refuse to believe it.
12:59And not until I finally thought,
13:02you know what?
13:02I've put myself through so much
13:04trying to make this happen.
13:06I don't want to do it anymore.
13:08It all comes down to like,
13:10we're trying to people please.
13:11We're trying to do
13:11what other people want
13:12or what other people expect
13:14or what we should do.
13:16And once you get past
13:17all of that stuff
13:18and you really get to the core
13:19of what you want for your life,
13:22that's when everything
13:24seems to get easier.
13:29I'm a realist.
13:30We're all aging.
13:32There's no such thing
13:34as anti-aging.
13:35I take really good care of myself.
13:37I am very intentional
13:38about certain self-care things
13:41that I do,
13:42eating well,
13:42getting great sleep,
13:44drinking enough water,
13:45not eating certain foods
13:47that I feel could probably
13:49lead to dis-ease in my body.
13:50I take that very seriously.
13:52And I think a lot of that
13:53has to do with my,
13:54you know,
13:55just seeing the aging process
13:57in women in my family before me
13:59and wanting to really rewrite that.
14:02I kind of try to look
14:03into my own eyes
14:04and really get into the soul
14:05of me and appreciate,
14:08like it comes down to gratitude
14:09of like,
14:10oh my God,
14:11look what you have done
14:12in your life.
14:14You are a success.
14:15You've done great things
14:17and there's so much more for you.
14:19And just really like
14:20appreciating myself,
14:23choosing to give
14:24myself the same love
14:26that I give to my daughters
14:28has really been like
14:29an aha moment for me.
14:30I would tell the younger
14:31Jenny to buckle up,
14:33hold on,
14:33it's going to be a wild ride
14:34you never saw coming.
14:36Nobody in your family
14:37has had this experience.
14:39It's going to be tricky.
14:41I would tell her
14:42to be kinder to herself.
14:43I've been really hard on myself.
14:46I would tell her
14:49it's okay to trust people.
14:53I would tell her
14:55to listen to her instincts
14:57and trust her gut
14:59and really truly
15:00let herself love herself
15:02because I think
15:03I stopped myself so long
15:04by giving myself,
15:05believing all those
15:06negative messages
15:07in my mind,
15:08those stories
15:09that just are automatic.
15:10I would tell her
15:12to really push back
15:13on those stories,
15:14question those stories.
15:15because it's not
15:16really the truth.
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