This week, Dean McDermott acknowledged the pain that he inflicted over the years.
While breaking his silence — his first public statement since he announced the end of his marriage to Tori Spelling in June, Dean spoke about how substance abuse took over his life. And how it ravaged his marriage.
He had a lot to say about marriage — from the “fairytale” beginning to how he felt like “roommates” after Tori let more pets sleep in the primary bedroom.
And Dean also admitted that his alcoholic rages at terrified Tori and their children — children whom he has not seen since spring.
During Dean McDermott’s lengthy interview with The Daily Mail that came out on Wednesday, he described how his 18 year marriage imploded.
Over time, he said, they grew apart as a couple.
Dean himself exacerbated many of their problems — by his addiction to and abuse of alcohol and prescription drugs.
“All Tori’s ever done to this day is want me to be happy and healthy,” Dean acknowledged in the interview.
“And I inflicted a lot of damage and pain on that woman,” he then admitted.
“I’m taking accountability for that today” Dean claimed. “And it’s the biggest amend that I’m ever going to have to make.”
Eventually, of course, Dean hit rock bottom.
By that point, he said, he and Tori felt more like “roommates” than spouses.
Financial worries plagued them left and right. Paparazzi seemed to lurk around every corner.
At this point, Dean recalled, he was deep in a depression.
In an effort to self-medicate, he was mainlining tequila and prescription pills. That’s an effort at coping, but it’s not self-care. It had consequences.
As a result, he described, he would fly into alcohol-fueled rages that left Tori and their children feeling “petrified.” There were also times when he would pass out, leading Tori to panic and check to make sure that he was even still alive.
Dean spent time in rehab this summer and is now sober.
But that came too late to save his marriage. He himself announced, back in June, that his time as Tori’s husband had come to an end after 18 years.
Dean confirmed that he had been binging alcohol and drugs at the time when he made that fateful announcement to the world.
Dean confirmed that his marital issues go back at least five years if not longer.
Among other things, he and Tori have not shared a bedroom since 2017. For some marriages, it saves things. For others, it leads people to feel like roommates.
In this case, it wasn’t out of snoring or different temperature preferences. It had to do with Tori letting pets sleep in their room. Pets that include a pig and a chicken.
Despite his love for Tori, he didn’t enjoy the awkward position of feeling like “Mr. Tori Spelling.”
Feeling like roommates with her was hard. The terror that he chose to inflict upon his family by launching into alcohol-fueled rages made things so much worse.
Dean felt so depressed at times that he experienced suicidal ideation.
Dean also pointed to their money troubles. According to him, Candy never helped them as a couple — and he has never had any kind of relationship with his mother-in-law.
That’s said … but not surprising.
“It’s going to be living the rest of my life making amends,” Dean said. “Because I took something that was really beautiful and I just tore it down year after year, day after day.”