Tori Spelling Reveals What Went Wrong In Her Marriage To Dean McDermott
By Kelly Coffey-Behrens on April 1, 2024 at 12:45 PM EDT
Tori Spelling has broken her silence on her divorce from Dean McDermott, revealing what went wrong in her marriage that led to the split.
According to documents, filed on Friday, March 29, and obtained by The Blast, the actress has demands with the divorce, involving custody of her children — Beau, Finn, 11, Hattie, 12, and Stella, 15, and Liam, 16. Per the docs, there was no mention of a prenup, but she has demanded physical custody of their kids and she wants spousal support.
Spelling listed their date of separation as June 17, 2023.
Tori Spelling Claims The 'Honeymoon Period' Ended Early On
The 'Beverly Hills, 90210' actress broke her silence on her divorce in the debut installment of her podcast, misSPELLING, on Monday.
Spelling told listeners that part of what went wrong in her marriage was that the "honeymoon period" ended four months after the two got together, and even admitted she had been telling herself she wanted to file for divorce for "like... 15 years."
"We had this very, quick, passionate falling in love period," Spelling recalled. "I just remember I could show him me. It wasn’t like, the cute like, giggly, ‘this is what people want me to be.’ I was able to be like, ‘Loud and like ugh, body-type of Tori. I could have like, I could have a fowl mouth. I’m not just Donna Martin, the perfect good girl. I could have some bad girl in me and it was okay. And he liked all those sides and he liked how smart I was and accepted me."
Tori Spelling Files For Divorce
In the emotional episode, Spelling, who filed for divorce on Friday, March 29, called McDermott and left him a voice message to tell him about the filing.
"There’s this weird thing that I didn’t know about before that you have to be careful with your ex," she explained on the podcast. "It’s a he-said, she-said, who filed first. I had to file and go through the process and then once it was accepted and publicly posted, then I’m allowed to call and fill in my ex. So I just called Dean."
"He’s working and I have to tell him and I’m super nervous because I don’t like confrontation," she confessed.
Tori Spelling Reveals 'Red Flags' In Her Marriage
Spelling went on to admit there were "red flags," which included "anger issues."
"I said from the beginning, ‘It’s going to be a lot. I’ve been told it’s an emasculating road.’ And he was like, ‘I can handle it,' " Spelling said on her podcast. "I don’t think he knew how big it would be. How big the life I was given and live is. I think he was like, ‘Oh yeah, things come and go.’ But with me, it never went."
Adding, "From the moment I was born, I was in the press. There hasn't been a reprieve from it. So you kind of have to be used to jumping on board with that world and getting through it and owning it. And I thought he was on board with that."
Anger Issues Worsened When Dean McDermott Drank
"When he would drink, it was hard because I knew that at some point, it would turn," Spelling claimed of her ex-husband. "And I knew... you know, it was always different. It could be 2 drinks, it could be 5, 6 drinks. And then I would just see it turn and I’m like, ‘Oh, here we go.’ And then that became my dance on the eggshells. No matter what I said it wasn’t right and I would have to, in my head be like, ‘Okay, quick quick quick on your toes.’ "
Adding, "It was like a fight. A mental fight. I think he might aim here and if he aims here with what he says, I’m going to respond this way and it’ll take him down. And it got to the point where nothing would make sense and I would just know to stop talking. And that usually, just space and stop talking, it was hard. "
Things Changed After They Had Kids
The two share five children together -- Liam Aaron McDermott, 17, Stella Doreen, 15, Hattie Margaret, 12, Finn Davey, 11 and Beau Dean, 7. While starting a family was wonderful, "[their] relationship was never the same after [they] started having kids."
"We always said, ‘We won’t be those parents that change. We’ll make sure we make our relationship a priority, the two of us. We have date nights.’ And everything went out the window," she explained, "I became completely focused on the kids and kind of left him, in a way."
She continued telling her listeners, "Our relationship definitely changed where I really felt like I was in this alone with the kids' and he was there, but he was an extra set of hands. He put the car seat in because I didn’t know how to do it and things like that. Emotionally, I was it."
"Like, ‘Tag, you’re it.’ I was the parent. And it was a lot of responsibility while also rebuilding a career — which I did," the actress continued. "We became a family brand. I went from Hollywood rich girl... to like, cool mom. 'Look at her. She does it all.' Meanwhile, behind the scenes, it was all falling apart."
Tori Spelling filed for divorce from Dean McDermott on Friday, March 29.