Tori Spelling says Luke Perry helped her after an encounter with abusive ex-boyfriend
Tori Spelling has revealed her late friend Luke Perry saved her from a "verbally abusive relationship".
The pair starred together on 1990s teen drama 'Beverly Hills, 90210', with Tori playing Donna Martin and Luke - who tragically died in March 2019 after suffering a ischemic stroke at the age of 53 - playing Dylan McKay, the postcode's bad boy.
The 48-year-old actress took to her Instagram account on Monday (11.10.21) on what would have been Luke's 55th birthday to remember her friend and share a story about how her rescued her from abusive ex-boyfriend, "literally" fighting for her.
Paying tribute to her pal, she wrote: "As a friend and big brother. You stood up for me fiercely. Went to brawl literally for me when I was in a verbally abusive relationship and sat and talked me thru the most insecure moments of a teen angst girls’ life."
Spilling one detail of how Luke is still part of her life, she added: "I’ll forever be ‘camel.’ The name you nicknamed me bc of my long eyelashes. (sic)"
Tori - whose late father Aaron Spelling was the show's producer - also praised Luke for being a "selfless" soul who emitted love and good vibes.
She continued: "You had a way of making every single human feel confident, heard, and special the minute they met you. Your energy was pure selfless love. A giver in this ungiving life. Your loving nature carried thru decades.
"You are missed so much. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about you. You were one of a kind. I remember meeting you as a young insecure teen girl. You were the first boy to ever make me feel worth as a human, a female and a comedienne.”
Tori's post was accompanied by a photograph of the two showing Luke kissing her on the cheek.
Other 'Beverly Hills, 90210' alumni also took to social media to share memories of Luke.
His on-screen love interest Jennie Garth - who played Kelly Taylor - also dedicated a few touching words on the photo sharing platform, writing "miss you my friend" underneath a tender throwback photo.
At the time of his death, Luke was playing Fred Andrews, the father of KJ Apa's character Archie, in the CW and Netflix teen drama 'Riverdale'.
