Tori Spelling reacts to her late dad wanting her ‘90210' character to be a virgin

Ever wonder why Tori Spelling's "Beverly Hills, 90210" character, Donna, was a virgin for so long? Well, she spoke about that on a recent episode of her “9021OMG podcast.”

While discussing the show with Charles Rosin, a producer and writer on the series, Spelling learned that it was actually her late father, Aaron Spelling, who made the call.

“I remember very clearly when he said to me that Donna should be a virgin. And it was like, ‘Yes, absolutely, she should,'” Rosin recalled of the "90210" producer.

Spelling noted that she "never knew" where the idea came from, but she "always suspected" that it was her dad's idea.

“Oh, absolutely," Rosin said.

Rosin added that the "entire" writing staff was on board with the idea because it made "perfect sense" to have Donna as a virgin.

"We were able now to differentiate you," he said of Spelling's character.

“You would be dressed provocatively, stylishly, but it didn’t matter because certainly, if you were, for whatever reason, a virgin at that point, you could dress like that. You would just blend in, but not actually be ‘doing the deed’ as it were."

In 1990, Spelling first appeared on "90210" and stayed on the show for a decade until its final episode aired in 2000.

During a 2013 interview with Vulture, she talked about her character's virginity and said "there was never a discussion" about Donna staying a virgin, especially since Donna started out as a "smaller side character."

But, once the show "established that she was a fan favorite, people really started relating to her,” Spelling said. “Teens constantly would approach me and tell me that they were virgins and they had times where they were scared that being a virgin would make them seem uncool, but then Donna made it okay.”

By the time Season Seven rolled around, Spelling said that she was ready for a change.

"We knew it was inevitable," she said of her character one day having sex. "I think at one point I jokingly said, 'Come on, Dad. It’s time.'"

This article was originally published on TODAY.com