﻿Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott have made headlines from the very beginning of their
romance. What first began as a secret affair, soon turned into a whirlwind marriage filled
with devastating betrayals and challenges as they navigated their relationship in the public eye.
Throughout all their marital struggles, the couple did their best to prioritize their family
but after the recent shocking announcement of their divorce, it seems as though Tori
and Dean are ready to part ways for good … Tori Spelling first met Dean McDermott on the
set of a film back in 2005. At the time, Tori was married to Charlie Shanian, while Dean was
married to Mary Jo Eustace. From the moment they were introduced to each other, the pair felt an
instant spark ignite between them. Despite both being married to other people, Tori and
Dean couldn't ignore the intense chemistry they shared, and soon, they began having an affair.
In her 2009 memoir, 'Stori Telling,' the actress recalled her first meeting with Dean. She wrote,
"It was love at first sight. I fell so hard … Then I noticed he had a wedding ring."
It first started out as fun flirting, but one night, she and Dean went to a bar,
and before they knew it, they were spending the night at a hotel together. Tori admitted
that when she woke up next to him the following morning, "I had no regrets. Something was really
wrong with my marriage. Not only because I slept with this guy … but because I didn't regret it."
It didn't take long for Spelling and McDermott to realize that it wasn't just lust between them.
Their affair had turned into more than just secret meet-ups and stolen kisses.
They had fallen in love. They both knew they had to come clean to their
spouses so that they didn't have to keep their relationship a secret anymore.
The actress detailed the moment she told her first husband about her affair with Dean.
She wrote in her memoir, "I told him that I'd never been in love with him. I loved him, and he'd
been a friend to me, but I married him because he was a great guy, a guy who took care of me."
She recalled that Charlie "didn't want to hear it," adding, "He kept saying, 'Where's all this
coming from? We have a perfect relationship.'" When he asked her, "Did you cheat on me?" She
confessed to her affair with McDermott. And he responded, "I should have known."
Both Tori and Dean ended their respective marriages in 2006, and they didn't waste any time
tying the knot themselves. That same year, the pair exchanged vows in a private ceremony in Fiji,
and they couldn't have been happier to finally be able to tell the world they loved each other.
Unfortunately, their newlywed bliss was cut short. Just two months after their wedding,
Tori's father, Aaron Spelling, tragically passed away from complications of a stroke.
Following Aaron's death, reports surfaced that Tori and her brother, Randy, only inherited
$800,000 each of their late father's $600 million fortune. As a result, rumors of a feud between
Tori and her mother, Candy, ran rampant. While the Spelling family's financial drama
made headlines, Tori and Dean turned to focus on starting a family of their own.
In March 2007, they welcomed their first child, a baby boy named Liam.
The couple also launched their own reality show, 'Tori and Dean: In Love.'
The series gave the world an intimate view into their lives at home, and it was an instant hit.
In 2008, after two successful seasons, the show returned for its third under a new name,
'Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood.' That same year, their daughter, Stella, was born.
Tori's relationship with her mother hit another low point in 2009 after Candy blamed her
daughter - and her relationship with McDermott - for Aaron's death during a radio interview.
Candy attempted to clarify her comments, although she maintained that Tori's estrangement
from her dad took a difficult toll on him. The following year, the couple had to fight
back against split rumors after footage from their reality series showed them arguing.
"I just want the old Dean back. I really do. I miss you so much," Spelling said on
an episode of Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood.
Although it seemed that their marriage had hit a bit of a rough patch,
the couple assured that they were "committed to each other" and making things work.
In fact, they even decided to renew their vows. "This is a rebirth. We've gone through our ups and
downs, but we wouldn't have changed a moment of it." Spelling shared.
In October 2011, the pair welcomed their second daughter and third child, Hattie. Tori admitted
that "the baby wasn't planned" but explained that it "obviously happened for a reason."
"Knowing we were bringing a third life into the world just enhanced our relationship. … The
moment I had her, I looked at Dean and fell in love with him all over again." She gushed.
Just five months after giving birth to Hattie, the actress revealed that she was pregnant for
the fourth time. This time, Spelling was diagnosed with a severe form of placenta previa and suffered
massive bleeds throughout her pregnancy. In August 2012, following four months of strict bed rest in
the hospital, she gave birth to a son, Finn. At the end of 2013, shocking news broke that
forty-seven-year-old McDermott had cheated on Spelling with twenty-eight-year-old Emily
Goodhand. The two-day affair happened while he was shooting on location for Chopped Canada.
Goodhand claimed that McDermott convinced her to accept his advances. "He told me he and Tori had
a less marriage. I believed him" she said. Tori was devastated by Dean's betrayal and
documented their struggles during their couples therapy sessions on the docuseries, 'True Tori.'
"I can never give him enough sex!" Spelling yelled in one of their therapy sessions.
"He's never gonna be happy with just me." McDermott, for his part, suffered a breakdown
on the series. He believed that they weren't going to be able to save their marriage and
knew he was to blame for their difficulties. "I just thought, 'This is it. You can't get out
of this. I blew it. Everything great in my life, I shit on.'" He admitted. Overwhelmed with guilt,
Dean later checked into a treatment facility to recover from his emotional breakdown.
Two years after the affair, McDermott surprised Spelling by proposing for a third time during
a family vacation in Paris. After reciting their vows to one another for the third time,
the couple's marriage was back on track. Following her high-risk pregnancy with Finn,
Spelling shocked fans by announcing she was pregnant with her fifth child in October 2016.
The star welcomed a healthy baby boy named Beau in March the following year.
The actress later referred to the twosome's third son as the "rebirth" of their marriage.
It seemed as though Tori and Dean were able to put the past behind them. They had been through
so much over the past few years, but now they were looking up to their future together as a family.
In 2018, Spelling shared that she and McDermott were in a very good place and had put a lot of
hard work into their marriage. Although raising five children was no easy task,
the actress explained that they had it all figured out.
"My husband and I have it so balanced. We really balance each other with getting it all done. We're
kind of that rock for each other. I always feel you're not given more than you can handle."
Dean also reflected on how he and Tori were able to overcome his past affair and admitted
that he thought "Tori was just going to run for the hills." He explained, "But she was like,
'I just can't turn off the love for you. I love you. You hurt me. I'm angry, but I love you.'"
The couple celebrated fourteen years of marriage in May 2020. Spelling dedicated
a sweet Instagram post to her hubby, thanking him for always having her back no matter what.
She expressed her love for Dean and her wish that they could one day go back to
Fiji, where they started their journey as husband and wife.
She concluded the caption with, "I love you with all my heart and soul."
Unfortunately, things in their marriage took a different turn the following year. Spelling
was seen without her wedding ring during a public outing at the beginning of the year.
A few months later, fans noticed that the couple didn't publicly acknowledge
their fifteenth wedding anniversary either. Tori later addressed the speculations about her
marriage during an interview and confessed that she and Dean no longer sleep in the same bed.
The actress explained that while her husband had been away filming for six months,
her "kids and dogs" slept in her bed. When he came back, Dean went to sleep in another
room rather than return to their bedroom. In June of the following year, an insider close
to the couple revealed that Spelling and McDermott were "going through with a trial separation."
A second source claimed that the couple decided to press pause on divorce because it's an "expensive"
process," but "they both feel trapped." They explained that "Tori has been unhappy
for quite a while now," adding, "Having kids makes it more difficult because they
don't want their children to be unhappy. They truly are still together for their kids."
For Tori's fiftieth birthday in May of the following year,
McDermott commemorated his wife's special day with a gushing Instagram post.
He wrote, "You're ageless and will always be my Donna Martin. You make 50 look fabulous!!"
However, just one month later, Dean announced that he and Tori were getting a divorce. In a
post shared via Instagram, he wrote, "It's with great sadness and a very,
very heavy heart that after 18 years together and five amazing children, @torispelling and
I have decided to go our separate ways and start a new journey of our own."
The announcement went on to explain that the couple "will continue to work together as
loving parents" and "guide and love" their "children through this difficult time."
Oddly enough, the post was deleted several hours later. Neither Dean nor Tori has yet to comment
on the deleted announcement. That being said, McDermott was soon spotted - without his wedding
band - moving boxes, a duffle bag, and hockey sticks into a Los Angeles storage facility.
It's possible that the couple wasn't ready to reveal their decision to divorce and wanted to
keep it to themselves for now. Since the intimate details of their marriage have
been put on display for so many years, Tori and Dean are no strangers to the public's opinion.
That being said, they might just want to handle their separation a little more quietly.
We can't be too sure, but as for now, we just hope that whatever Tori and Dean decide to do
makes them happy. Marriages take a lot of hard work, and navigating their lives in the public
eye doesn't make things any easier. At the end of the day, it's about what's best for the couple
and their kids, and sometimes parting ways is the most amicable solution. We only wish Tori
and Dean the best for their future, whether they choose to go forward together or apart.