Jason Priestley Says He Begged Aaron Spelling to End 'Beverly Hills, 90210' Before His Exit

Jason Priestley is finally telling the full story of why he walked away from“Beverly Hills, 90210.”On Jennie Garth’s“9021OMG”podcast, the actor revealed that during season eight he went to producer Aaron Spelling and asked him to end the show, frustrated with its increasingly soapy storylines under new showrunner John Eisendrath. Priestley’s pitch was simple:“Aaron, man, let’s end this. Let’s go out on top.”Spelling refused, reportedly telling him he’d be pulled off the set in a body bag before the show wrapped.

So Priestley left early in season nine in 1998, with Brandon Walsh departing for a journalism job in Washington, D.C. Here’s the twist: the series ended only a year and a half later anyway. Priestley admitted he would have stayed if he’d known that, and his exit reportedly derailed plans for Brandon to marry Garth’s Kelly Taylor, a storyline fans never got to see play out. The revelation adds new context to why the show’s original stars gradually moved on from one of the biggest hits of the’90s.

For longtime fans, it’s a fresh what-if in a show already full of them. Would Brandon and Kelly have gotten their happy ending? Would season nine have looked completely different? Priestley’s honesty about the creative tension makes the answers feel closer than ever.

What’s your take: should Priestley have stayed, or was walking away the right call?