Tori Spelling Reveals Why She Stayed 'Longer' in Her Marriage to Dean McDermott

Tori Spelling is opening up about why her marriage ran past its course.

During the April 24 episode of her misSPELLING podcast, Spelling, 50, admitted to guest and fellow Beverly Hills, 90210 alum Shannen Doherty that her concern of never finding a man at her status level prolonged her marriage with Dean McDermott. 

“One of my biggest fears, and this perhaps did make me stay longer, is I feel like in our world it’s difficult to be with a man and have him not feel emasculated,” Spelling confessed. “Not by our doing, but by who we are and have been labeled by society.”

The actress continued, “We’re not just women who make money. We’re women that have power, we’re women that have fame. I don’t know any different. I feel guilty. Like, how am I ever gonna be with a man and he doesn’t feel like less than me just because of my status?”

Doherty, 53, assured her that “there are men out there that don’t care about that.” She provided an example of a man who is “a partner at one of the top law firms” or takes pride in “working his way up the ladder.”

“Anybody that has strong work ethic and who has achieved success in whatever they choose to do is going to have their own status,” the Charmed star said. 

Although Doherty sympathized with Spelling, recognizing it’s hard “to be with a woman that can get a reservation at any restaurant,” she emphasized that Spelling could find a partner that “would take such great pride” in having a successful spouse. 

Still, Spelling pushed back: “At this point in my life, and this is all I know right now, I disagree with you.” 

She explained that because of her personal experiences, she doesn’t know if a man can “overcome” the fact that a woman is successful, regardless of whether he “has huge status or has his own thing.”

Doherty called the notion “depressing” and gave another counterargument: “Do you really think Keith Urban is emasculated by Nicole Kidman?”

“Maybe,” the author answered.

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After 18 years together, Spelling filed for divorce from McDermott, 57, on March 29. In court documents obtained by PEOPLE, she cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for their split. Their official date of separation was listed as June 17, 2023, the same day that McDermott posted a since-deleted announcement on Instagram that the couple had decided to go their “separate ways” and “start a new journey” apart. 

Spelling asked for sole physical custody of their five kids, Liam Aaron McDermott, 17, Stella Doreen, 15, Hattie Margaret, 12, Finn Davey, 11 and Beau Dean, 7, and joint legal custody with McDermott with visitation rights to be determined.