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Tori Spelling Recalls Heated Fight With Dean McDermott That Led to Their Split: ‘Rough Night’
Tori Spelling opened up about the explosive fight she had with estranged husband Dean McDermott that led to their split in June 2023.
The Beverly Hills, 90210 alum, 50, explained that that she and Dean, 57, began bickering when she arrived home from a photoshoot with former costar Jennie Garth, which she recalled during the Monday, April 8, episode of her “MisSPELLING” podcast. During the argument, Dean allegedly told Tori something “he knew would really be hurtful to hear.”
While she didn’t share the exact comment Dean made, Tori admitted it upset her so much that she “smashed” a loaded baked potato she had been making on the kitchen floor. “This guttural scream came out of me,” she told her listeners. “It was beast-like. It wasn’t pretty at all.”
Tori – who married Dean in 2006 – then locked herself in their home’s primary bedroom. However, Dean was “fired up” and started “banging on the door.”
The Due South actor was eventually able to get into the room through the outdoor entrance, which she hadn’t locked. “He came in and he was very, very upset. And he said, ‘I want a divorce. This is over.’ And I said, OK. Great. OK,’” Tori said.
Tori said that Dean had “threatened” divorce “one million times” before the fight, though he seemed to take the comment more seriously and issued a statement about their split via Instagram on June 17, 2023.
The Mother, May I Sleep with Danger? actress said she wasn’t aware about the post until their daughter Stella, 15, saw it online.
“I’m not kidding you guys, I felt like this giant rock had been lifted off my chest,” she said, recalling her response to seeing the post. “I could breathe deeply, and I was like, ‘Oh my God. He said it, so now I’m free.’ Like, ‘Everything has started, and this, I couldn’t do it. And he did it, and now I can move on. He’s put it out there, Let’s go. Yes. I needed this.’ You know? Like, I couldn’t do it myself.”
Despite initially feeling relieved about the post, Tori admitted she had a change of heart when she saw Stella was upset by the news. After Dean ignored Tori’s request to remove the post, Stella reached out to ask the same thing. However, Tori said Dean “wasn’t understanding clearly what she was asking and what was happening to everyone around him at that moment.”
“He was like, ‘You don’t understand. It’s been a long time coming. You know, mom and I are gonna co-parent everything,’” she recalled. “And she’s like, ‘Dad, you’re not understanding. It’s not about that. You guys can get a divorce. You should, but you just put it out there publicly before we’ve dealt with it. That shouldn’t be the case.’”
Tori concluded the topic by noting it was a “rough night” with their kids, and Dean eventually deleted the post. In addition to Stella, the former couple share kids Liam, 17, Hattie, 12, Finn, 11, and Beau, 7.
Nine months after Dean announced the end of their marriage, Tori filed for divorce and listed their date of separation as June 17, 2023, according to legal docs viewed by In Touch. In addition to citing irreconcilable differences as the reason behind their divorce, Tori asked for sole physical custody and joint legal custody of their children. However, she stated she was open to letting Dean have visitation rights.
