Tori Spelling reveals the moment she knew she had to file for divorce from Dean McDermott

Couple had been married for 18 years

Tori Spelling has opened up about what caused her to file for divorce from Dean McDermott after their 18-year marriage.

The Beverly Hills, 90210 alum spoke about the filing on a recent episode of hermisSPELLING podcast after the news made headlines on Friday 29 March. “I just filed for divorce. Whoa, I just said the words that I’ve said in my head for, like, 16 years. Wild,” she said in the episode.

During the podcast, Spelling ended up leaving a voicemail for her ex-husband to let him know that the paperwork had gone public. Listeners heard the actress mention that McDermott had concerns about her being the one to file for a divorce before him.

“I feel like I deserve to file first, then. You basically put it all out there with The Daily Mail,” she told him, mentioning an exclusive interview he had with the outlet in November 2023.

“You said everything that you’ve done to me all through the years. So I think it would make perfect sense that it’s followed up with I would file. Because those are things that I would never have divulged to somebody and you did.”

The phone call ended with her telling her ex-husband, “I love you.”

“I’ve never felt more alone,” Spelling said at another point during the episode. “I don’t feel worth loving.”

Spelling then reflected on her overall relationship with Dermott, describing it as a “fairytale romance”.

“Dean and I had this fairytale romance, even though we were both married when we met — not fairytale right there,” she recalled on her podcast. “But we had other partners that we cheated on and left and then we got together.”

For her, the turning point during their time together seemed to be when they started having children, as she noted “our relationship was never the same”.

“Everything became focused on the kids and I kind of left him in a way. And I get it. It doesn’t excuse his behaviour and everything he did,” she explained.

Spelling added that their relationship should never have lasted 18 years, and remembered telling a friend of hers that she would leave McDermott once her kids were able to unbuckle their own seat belts, but she ended up having more children instead.

The “final blow” for her took place in June 2023, near the date of separation listed on the court documents - which was listed as 17 June 2023.

When the currently sober McDermott was drinking, Spelling recalled him saying, “He said: ‘Ugh, I’m so sick of this. I have been picking up Tori Spelling’s s**t for 18 years.’ And I f***ing lost it.”

Following the couple’s separation, McDermott announced that the couple had decided to go their separate ways in a statement that was later deleted off his Instagram.

“It’s with great sadness and a very very heavy heart that after 18 years together and five amazing children, that @torispelling and I have decided to go our separate ways, and start a new journey of our own,” he wrote at the time.

“We will continue to work together as loving parents and guide and love our children through this difficult time. We ask that you all respect our privacy as we take this time to surround our family with love and work our way through this. Thank you all for your support and kindness.”

Hours later, however, McDermott deleted the post without explanation. Spelling, for her part, didn’t comment on the announcement, but she notably didn’t share a public Father’s Day tribute to her estranged husband.