UPDATE (06/18/2023): As of June 18. — a day after Dean’s divorce announcement post — the actor appears to have removed the statement and photo entirely from his Instagram. It’s unclear as to why, although fans are speculating that the couple might not be divorcing after all.
ORIGINAL STORY: Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott are ending their 17 year marriage. Dean, 56, took to Instagram to confirm the split from his longtime wife, 50, late on Friday, June 16. “It’s with great sadness and a very very heavy heart that after 18 years together and 5 amazing children, that @torispelling and I have decided to go our separate ways, and start a new journey of our own,” the Canadian born actor penned.
“We will continue to work together as loving parents and guide and love our children through this difficult time,” he also wrote in the statement, captioning a photo of himself and Tori in happier times. “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,” he signed off.
While the news was shocking for fans of the Beverly Hills, 90210 alum and her husband there were signs that there could be trouble in paradise leading up to the surprising announcement. “Tori and Dean have been having major issues for over a year now,” a source shared with Us Weekly in June 2021. In July of that year, Dean was spotted without his ring amid growing rumors of a split, per Daily Mail, hinting that a possible divorce was on the horizon. Moreover, Tori was spotted outside her lawyer’s office on Oct. 19, 2021 during an emotional phone call, reported Page Six, holding a yellow legal pad and making aggressive hand gestures while on the phone. Seen on the legal pad were the words “3pm Lawyer – assets – support – custody,” among other details.
During Tori’s previous appearance on SiriusXM’s Jeff Lewis Live, she cited Dean’s filming schedule as the reason for the sleeping arrangements. Our source, however, also shared how perhaps Tori’s work contributed to the shift in their marital life, as her “really busy” schedule began to take up more of her focus. “She realizes she can do this without him,” the source shared. “She’s kind of done it before without him but now her career is taking off again and it doesn’t have anything to do with the family anymore.”
Dean and Tori share five children together — sons Liam, 16, Finn, 10, and Beau, 6, and daughters Stella, 15, and Hattie, 11. Dean also shares his 24-year-old son, Jack, with his ex-wife Mary Jo Eustace. There’s no denying that Dean and Tori have been through a lot in their marriage. In fact, they even survived a cheating scandal in 2013.
In 2014, Dean publicly admitted that he cheated on Tori during their marriage. The fallout played on reality TV in the series True Tori. But years later, Dean shared that he believed what they endured made them stronger. “Our relationship now is better than ever,” Dean shared EXCLUSIVELY with HollywoodLife. I have no regrets because what [my “Daddy Issues”] podcast has enabled me to do is to go in and correct things, correct misquotes, correct false stories,” Dean said. “Aside from being my wife and loving me, she is my biggest fan and my biggest supporter.” He added, “All I can say is from the moment we met, it was just on. It was done. It’s like you guys are meant to be together.”
Although the couple moved forward from the scandal, they perhaps never truly moved on, as our source shared that Tori didn’t really “see a future” for their family brand due to Dean’s transgressions. “She just doesn’t trust Dean anymore. She’s never felt confident that he wouldn’t do it again.”