Tori Spelling Was Relieved When Dean McDermott Announced Their Split

Tori Spelling’s split from Dean McDermott was a breath of fresh air. Speaking on her misSPELLING podcast, the former Beverly Hills, 90210 actress says that she felt relieved when her ex announced their split on social media in 2023, in a post that he eventually removed and “apologized” for sharing.

“He was reacting emotionally, and he was still drinking and, you know, he was in that spiral,” she recalled in the most recent episode of her podcast, then confessing, “But I gotta say, when I saw that post – inside, I was like, ‘Oh, thank god.’” She explained, “Because… I don’t know if I could have done it. I want to do it. I want it to be strong enough.”

McDermott and Spelling married in 2006 and share five kids: Liam Aaron McDermott, 17, Stella Doreen, 16, Hattie Margaret, 12, Finn Davey, 11 and Beau Dean, 7. Rumors about the couple’s rocky marriage occasionally emerged throughout the past few years and, over the summer of 2023, the pair confirmed their split.

In March 2024 — after 18 years together — Spelling filed for divorce from McDermott. She cited their split as irreconcilable differences in court documents obtained by PEOPLE. The official date of separation was listed as June 17, 2023, the same day that McDermott shared his social media post

Additionally, Spelling requested sole physical custody and joint legal custody of their five minor children. McDermott’s visitation rights are to be determined at a later date.