Living and learning. Dean McDermott admitted that he thought wife Tori Spelling would “have a knee jerk reaction” after finding out that he had been unfaithful. In an exclusive interview with Us Weekly on Tuesday, October 29, McDermott, 52, revealed how the couple weathered the cheating scandal and got their marriage back on track.
“I thought that Tori was just going to run for the hills, and I could totally understand why,” the former Chopped Canada host told Us. “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. I can’t turn that off.’”
Both the Slasher actor and BH90210 star, 46, have previously opened up about the challenges of staying monogamous. McDermott told Us on Tuesday that putting their marriage “under the microscope” of their reality series, True Tori, made it hard to keep their relationship strong.
“Every relationship is work, and when you get to that point, you can’t bail,” the actor said. “You got to knuckle under and work it out. It is hard.”
In 2014, Us broke the news that McDermott had slept with another woman while promoting Chopped Canada in Toronto. One month later, the actor checked into a treatment facility for sex addiction. The aftermath of the infidelity was documented throughout two seasons of the couple’s revealing Lifetime reality series.
Although the pair have had their ups and downs in married life, they’ve stayed committed to making things work for their five children: Liam, 12, Stella, 11, Hattie, 8, Finn, 7, and Beau, 2. McDermott is also father of 21-year-old Jack Montgomery McDermott, who he shares with ex-wife, Mary Jo Eustace.
Over the last five years, McDermott has made an effort to learn from his past mistakes and is now ready to share some relationship advice with other couples in similar situations.
“Don’t have a knee jerk reaction,” the actor advised. “I understand the knee jerk reaction. I totally understand it, but look at your relationship outside of the kids if you have them. … Just stop and breathe and look at the relationship and how much you mean to each other. And if that’s not there, then go your separate ways. But if there’s that flame, that kindred spirit, that connection, if it’s still there, hash it out, work it out. It’s not the end.”
