The print and online tabloids follow actress Tori Spelling’s every move, and paparazzi literally wait on the street for her to emerge from her Encino, Calif., home.
That’s one price of fame, and Spelling has paid it “since I was 17,” she said. She’s certainly had her troubles – most of them sensationalized.
In the 1980s, Spelling, 37, appeared in a string of TV shows produced by her father, the late Aaron Spelling. But it was her 10-year role as Donna Martin in his “Beverly Hills 90210″ series, and appearances in made-for-TV and independent movies, that established her in the public consciousness.
For the past five years, Spelling and her second husband, actor Dean McDermott, have produced and starred in their own reality show on the Oxygen Network, “Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood.” They have two young children, Liam and Stella.
Spelling’s two autobiographies, “sTori Telling” (2008) and “Mommywood” (2009), were best-sellers. Though her trademark wit is again front and center in her new book, “uncharted terriTORI” (Gallery, $25, 224 pages), she confronts some serious issues as well.
I caught up with Spelling on Monday as she waited in the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport for a connecting flight to Tampa, Fla., where her book tour was to continue.
Q. What about the new book?
A. This one gets a lot deeper than the others. I started out thinking it would be my funny stories and anecdotes, but it took a different turn.
Q. There’s an anecdote in it about you contacting the late Farrah Fawcett.
A. It was during a reading on the phone with (celebrity psychic) John Edward. We have the same publicist. I thought, “Oh, this’ll be cool, maybe my dad will come through.” Instead, John said, “Farrah Fawcett’s coming through.” He was really surprised, too. She wanted me to let her family know she’s happy and OK. I wrote a letter to Ryan O’Neal, explaining the story. I said, “Please don’t think I’m crazy, I’m simply passing on a message.”
Q. Your dramatic weight loss last year was rumored to have been an eating disorder, but you say it was the swine flu.
A. It was. I’ve definitely recovered from the flu part, but the complications from it led to a breakdown of my immune system, which is slowly starting to rebuild. My stomach is still kind of a mess.
Q. You opened a Twitter account for your 3-year-old son, Liam.
A. I did. So far he has 25,000 followers.
Q. Has your husband, Dean, recovered from his most recent motorcycle accident?
A. He’s out of the hospital and home, at least, but he’s still in so much pain he can barely walk or lift the kids.
Q. You were estranged from your mother, Candy, and have publicly feuded with her, but you spent Mother’s Day with her.
A. Our relationship is really good now. It was a conscious choice on both our parts to leave the past in the past and not dwell on figuring out what went wrong. We realize that today’s a new day.
Q. You literally grew up on TV. Did you watch many of your dad’s shows, like “The Love Boat” and “Fantasy Island”?
A. Oh, my God, yes – religiously. And it wasn’t just because I had to, it was because they were amazing shows.
On weekends, he’d sit there with scripts and rewrite page after page of every show he had. He would always ask me, “What do you think of this character?” I would always be his little casting assistant. He was so detail-oriented, I think that’s where I get my type-A personality.
Q. What do you watch now?
A. A lot of reality TV. Right now we’re big into the Food Network because it has adult shows the kids will watch with us. It’s a lot better for them than cartoons.
Q. Your life has long been an open book.
A. It’s really hard to get privacy. When we’re at home, that’s our private moment. If there’s an element missing (from my life), it’s probably “me.” In the process of taking care of my family and building our businesses, I’ve lost a little bit of “me” time. I would love to have more “me” back in there so I can enjoy my family and our successes. Frankly, I don’t always have enough time to do that. I’m working on it.
Q. Looking over your career, have the media treated you fairly?
A. Do they treat anyone fairly? I love it when people say, “If it bothers you, just stop reading that stuff about you.” But I’d rather know what they’re saying than not know. I’m used to it, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt my feelings. The worst parts are what they say about my marriage and my weight, which simply aren’t true.
Q. Any message for your fans?
A. I want them to know that everything’s OK. With all the negatives out there, their love and support brighten my life every single day.
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One Response to “ Tori’s story, and she’s sticking to it ”
Date: Aug 9th, 2010
Time: 01:48:05
Are tori and dean still together?????? thanks for the info. I haven’t seen their show on tv in a while.
Reply to “ Tori’s story, and she’s sticking to it ”