Holly Marie Combs Reveals How Her “Charmed” Co-Stars Got Her Through a Cancer Scare

The fantasy drama, Charmed, which ran from 1998 to 2006, achieved a cult following from the moment its first episode premiered, and it went on to break records. In fact, it was once the longest-running hour-long television series featuring all-female leads. Now, Holly Marie Combs, who portrayed Piper Halliwell in the show, is recalling how her bond with co-stars Shannen Doherty and Alyssa Milano helped her overcome a difficult time while shooting season 1.

The actress shared the personal story on her podcast.

In an episode of The House of Halliwell, a Charmed-themed podcast where 3 cast members of the show rewatch and comment on episodes of the series, Holly Marie Combs made an emotional revelation. While talking about The Power of Two, a season 1 episode where Comb’s character is missing for most of it, she opened up about discovering a tumor.

“They had found a rather large tumor in my uterus during this season, and it kept growing at a rate that was not healthy,” Combs said. “They were afraid that it was cancer, so we needed to have it removed.”

Fortunately, it turned out it wasn’t cancer, but the actress still had to have surgery to remove the “baseball-sized” tumor. It was then, when she was recovering, that Shannen Doherty and Alyssa Milano came through with unconditional support. Combs went on to recall how her co-stars, who played the other Halliwell sisters on the show, kept her company and took care of her in that tough moment.

“We got very close, all of us, during this time,” she told the listeners. “Shannen would leave my hospital room, and Alyssa and her mom would come in. When I went home, Alyssa’s mom had made me chicken soup and food for the week because it was a really major surgery. The girls really pulled together during this time for me.”

Combs also explained why she decided to be candid about the matter now, so many years later. “I don’t advertise it a lot. I’m very protective of the show and my part in it, but I’m also very protective of the moments that we had like this,” she admitted.

“No one has any idea how much both Shannen and Alyssa did for me during this time. That really bugs me. No one has any idea how much we went through behind the scenes, and how much we did together, and how close we were.”