CAST members Jennie Garth and Shannen Doherty of teen drama Beverly Hills 90210 have been dishing out advice to the new stars of the series' remake.

That has been helpful, especially when actresses Jessica Stroup and 90210 lead Shenae Grimes came under fire in September.

Then, publications like EW asked if skinny starlets were setting a bad example for teens.

"Jennie and Shannen pulled me aside and told me not to read what's written, to know myself at my core, and that I'll be fine," Stroup, 22, said in a teleconference with the Asian media recently.

She added that Garth, who plays Stroup's older sister in 90210, has been " like a mother figure to me".

Us Weekly reported that Grimes, 18, who is 1.6m tall, weighs around 40kg, while Stroup, who is 1.7m tall, weighs 45-47kg.

Asked whether the talk bothered her, Stroup replied softly: "Of course, it hurt to read that stuff at first, but I don't really pay attention (to it) anymore."

Like the old series, the new one deals with sex, drugs and other growing pains in high school.

The original 1990 TV series, which ended its run in 2000, was one of the first to frankly address such topics, and made teen idols out of then-unknown actors Luke Perry, Jason Priestly, Tori Spelling, Doherty and Garth.

Stroup remembers that her parents were "super strict", and forbade her to watch the show.

"I used to sneak off with my girlfriends to watch it," the North Carolina native said with a laugh.

Will Stroup and company be propelled to the same sort of stardom? Time will tell, but the CW-produced show averages around 3.4 million viewers in the US.

When it premiered in Singapore last month, its debut pushed Star World to become the most-watched English cable channel in Singapore that night.

Stroup says that the hype has not caught up with her.

"I live very much under the radar," she said with a laugh. "Nobody notices me unless I'm with another cast-mate."

• 90210 is on Star World (StarHub Ch 18) on Tuesdays at 9pm.

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