What happened to Jennie Garth, Kelly in ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’?

There were ten seasons and almost 292 episodes in which Jennie Garth (Urbana, Illinois, 1972) appeared on the audience’s screens in the ‘90s hit teenage series: ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’. Overnight, she became extremely famous thanks to the show. But what happened after that?

Jennie Garth went from anonymous - she had just starred in one movie and played a couple of secondary and extra roles (like the one in ‘Growing Pains’) - to hit the jackpot with her role of Kelly in ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’.

It was a worldwide hit. Her face, along with the ones of the rest of the cast, appeared in endless posters and bed room walls of teenagers around the planet.

As the actress admitted in her memoires in 2013: "In a few weeks, we went from being just another prime-time teenage drama cast to superstars." She also said that neither she nor any of her co-stars were prepared for that.

Kelly was the official pretty girl of the cast and one of the protagonists of the most memorable teenage love triangle of the 90s: the one with Dylan (Luke Perry) and Brenda (Shannen Doherty).

The show allowed her to address important topics for teenagers, such as sexual relationships, drugs and friendship; however, with time, she acknowledged that she felt she was sending misleading messages.

In 2019, in the podcast ‘90210MG’, in which all the female lead actresses of the series gathered (including Shannen Doherty, Tory Spelling and Gabrielle Carteris), she confessed that the show brought out a competitive side of her because she felt judged by her looks. She said that the 90s were "a different day and age, and [the show] sent many misleading messages to us, girls. For many years, I struggled with that."

Unsurprisingly, Jennie Garth was, according to the FHM ranking, among the 100 most desired women in the world in 2000 and 2001.

When the series ended in 2000, Jennie Garth continued working for cinema and television. However, she did not achieve the success of her role as Kelly.

She appeared in some TV movies and in several series, such as ‘What I like about you’ which aired for four seasons (2002-2006), and ‘Mystery Girls’ (2014).

In 2007, she participated in ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ where she demonstrated her dancing skills. She ended up in fourth place, in a season won by Helio Castroneves, the four-time champion of the Indy 500.

Jennie Garth played in a spin-off based on the series that made her famous. In ‘90210’ (2008-2011), she played her same character, Kelly.

Years later, Kelly is a counselor in the high school where she studied, West Beverly High. She has a son with Dylan Mckay: Sammy.

In 2019, she participated with the rest of the cast (except for Luke Perry who had passed away in March of that year) in ‘BH90210’. This new series also presented the same characters and gave a closer look into their actual lives and personal relationships. Fox cancelled the series just four months after its premiere and left it with just one season.

That same year, we saw her in ‘MasterChef Celebrity Showdown.’ She competedtogether with her daughter Fiona against her friend and ‘Beverly Hills’ co-star, Tory Spelling and her daughter Stella.

Recently, Jennie Garth hit the news because of her heart condition. Although it was diagnosed in 2002, it hadn't been until 2009 when she'd dared to speak publicly about her health issue.

Garth explained in ‘Access Hollywood’ that her condition affects "one of the connections to the heart… Your artery, the main artery that goes to your heart. It’s like a fluttering and it’s weird because, sometimes, when I lay down to rest, I can hear a strange fluttering."

The condition requires routine checkups, but she can live a normal life. Still, in the future, she may need surgical intervention. "Some people have had to replace their cardiac valves and things like that… But I’m prepared. That’s the key," she told 'Access Hollywood'.

Jennie Garth is very committed to raise awareness about heart diseases. In 2008, she participated in the show ‘Are You Smarter Than a 5^th Grader?’ winning a prize of 100,000 dollars that she donated to the American Heart Association.

Jennie Garth has been married three times. First with the musician Daniel Clark, whom she married in 1994 and divorced in 1996.

Then, she married the actor Peter Facinelli whom she had met while shooting the movie ‘An Unfinished Affair’. They had three daughters: Luca Bella (1997), Lola Ray (2002) and Fiona Eve (2006). Jennie Garth and Peter Facinelli divorced in 2012.

Her latest husband is the actor Dave Abrams, whom she met at a blind date in 2014. They married in 2015, but in 2018 he asked for divorce. A couple of months later, they reconciled and continued together.

That’s how the present has been treating the actress that entered our homes (and hearts) a while ago…