‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ actor says Jennie Garth age-gap romance 'would be illegal' today: More ‘prudish now'

Grant Show is reflecting on his onscreen romance with Jennie Garth on "Beverly Hills, 90210."

During an appearance on the "Melrose Place" rewatch podcast, "Still The Place," the 62-year-old actor opened up about the "creepy" romance between his character, 25-year-old handyman Jake Hanson, and Garth's high school character, Kelly Taylor. 

"They cast me for ‘Melrose Place’ knowing that they were going to put that character on ‘90210’ sort of to springboard ‘Melrose Place,'" Show said. "It wasn’t the spinoff [or] any of that kind of thing. It was, like, they knew this all going in. And then I did three episodes of ‘90210’ [as] Jake."

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Grant Show said his character's romance with Jennie Garth's high-school character was "creepy." (Getty Images)

Jake Hanson was introduced on "90210" as a handyman hired to build "a gazebo for Kelly’s family in her backyard." Garth and Show's characters shared a kiss in the "Melrose Place" pilot episode. 

"[It] would now be illegal and, like, [part of the] Me Too [movement]," Show said. "I think we only kissed, but still, you know, not good. . . . How odd is it that we are more, sort of, prudish now than 30 years ago?"

"Grant is such a straightforward, ethical guy that he would never do that today. But at the time it was romantic. We forget how badly those things age."

— Courtney Thorne-Smith

While Garth was over 18 in real life, the age gap between the two characters is not something that would fly today, said Show. 

"That’s not that crazy in real life [but] it’s knowing that it’s high school," Show said of their characters. "Now, you put it in those terms [of the age gap], that’s creepy."

Garth portrayed high school student, Kelly Taylor, while Show portrayed 25-year-old handyman, Jake Hanson.  (The Everett Collection)

"She was a grown-up, professional actress," he said. "I didn’t really think much of it at the time we were shooting. When I watched it, I was like, ‘Oh yeah, look at that.’ … It’s different."

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The "Still the Place" co-hosts Daphne Zuniga, Laura Leighton and Courtney Thorne-Smith told Us Weekly that the romance between the two was "painful" to watch. 

Show said the romance between the two characters would be "illegal" now. (The Everett Collection)

"I was watching it thinking, well surely they’re gonna almost kiss, then not quite. And I was like, ‘Oh my God, they’re kissing, they’re kissing!’" Thorne-Smith told the outlet. "It just didn’t age well. Grant is such a straightforward, ethical guy that he would never do that today. But at the time it was romantic. We forget how badly those things age."

"Beverly Hills, 90210" premiered in 1990 and starred Garth, along with Shannen Doherty, Tori Spelling, Luke Perry, Jason Priestley, Brian Austin Green, Ian Ziering and Gabrielle Carteris.

Last month, Garth appeared on the "Today" show and spoke briefly about Doherty's death and how the "90210" cast have been supporting each other through their grief. 

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Jennie Garth spoke candidly about Shannen Doherty's death.  (Getty Images)

"It's still really fresh," she admitted, "still processing the grief, and I was in shock, because we all knew that Shannen was fighting cancer for a long time, but, I don't know, there was just something about her – she was such a fighter and a pro, I just didn't think that would happen, for some reason."

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She added, "It was a big shock for all of us."

Garth also spoke about how the cast as a whole is dealing with the loss, saying, "It is always nice to have your brothers and sisters from that experience be able to support one another in all times, in happy times and in sad times now, so it just brings us closer."

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Fox News Digital's Emily Trainham contributed to this post.