Jennie Garth admittedly dealt with deep insecurities during her years on Beverly Hills, 90210.
“I never imagined that stepping into a character’s shoes would start to define how I saw my own reflection,” Garth, 54, wrote in her new I Choose Me memoir. “When I began playing Kelly Taylor on Beverly Hills, 90210, I hadn’t dealt with the body image issues in my real life.”
Garth recalled how story lines where Kelly went on diets, felt insecure or when she was “praised or scrutinized for her looks” often felt “foreign” to her in real life.
“I approached them as an actress does: with imagination and curiosity,” she wrote. “Just like Kelly, I faced harsh judgments and struggled to maintain my mental health. The messages on the show — whether in the script or in my head — began to blur the line between character and self.”
According to Garth, she soon “felt judged” for her appearance and outfits between 90210 takes.
“[I was] always internally comparing myself to my costars or guest stars joining us,” she said. “I was a young girl and I wanted approval from Luke [Perry], Jason [Priestley], Brian [Austin Green] and Ian [Ziering]. I felt competitive with other young women and worried when I wasn’t getting noticed.”
Amid her body image battle, Garth had a breast augmentation and liposuction when she was 24 years old.
“I started to believe that this was just what you did at a certain age,” she wrote in her book, noting other actresses were also going under the knife at the time. “I wanted to disappear into the version of beauty that was being sold to all of us at the time: small, effortless, waif-like. I thought if I could just carve myself into that image, maybe I’d finally feel like enough.”
In the years since wrapping 90210 in 2000 and welcoming three daughters with ex-husband Peter Facinelli, Garth has learned to embrace her body.
“I never thought I’d be doing my first underwear shoot at 53 … but here we are,” Garth wrote via Instagram in June 2025, sharing pics from her ThirdLove lingerie campaign. “I’ve never felt more confident, or comfortable in my skin.”
She continued at the time, “Not just because it’s a first for me, but because it’s with a brand that genuinely supports women through every phase of life, including menopause.Thank you @thirdlove for helping me feel strong, sexy, and supported — exactly as I am.”
I Choose Me: Chasing Joy, Finding Purpose, and Embracing Reinvention is out now.
