Dean McDermott, Now a Drug Counselor, Credits Tori Spelling With Getting Him Into Treatment

Dean McDermott says the person who finally got him into treatment was the woman he was divorcing.

The Canadian actor, 59, told Page Six in an interview published Nov. 9 that Tori Spelling was the one who got him help. He said the former couple have since rebuilt their relationship and now “co-parent beautifully,” in Page Six’s words, regularly sharing dinners with their children. “I couldn’t have asked for a better ex-wife,” he said. Spelling and McDermott finalized their divorce in November 2025, according to Page Six.

McDermott said he hit bottom a few years ago, after years of cycling through alcohol, cocaine and opiates. He had been in treatment several times before. This time, he said, he no longer had the energy to rebuild a life he kept destroying. “You’re 56 years old and you’ve done it again. This is where you always end up. Your way didn’t work,” he recalled telling himself before he asked for help.

He told Us Weekly he has been sober for three years and four months. He credits the 12-step program, therapy and breathwork, and practices what he calls “active meditation.” He now works as an alcohol and drug counselor and facilitates recovery groups. He told Page Six that helping others cannot replace looking after his own sobriety.

His advice to parents of addicted children is to combine unconditional love with firm boundaries and to avoid enabling. “Love them, support them and just be there for them when they’re ready to say, ‘Hey, I need help,’” he said. He also warned that fentanyl has changed the stakes. “One relapse could be your last,” he said.

McDermott spoke at the third annual fundraising evening of Cure Addiction Now, held Nov. 9 at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The nonprofit was co-founded by philanthropist Nancy Davis and her late son, Jason Davis. It says it has funded 23 research studies with institutions including Mount Sinai, Yale, UCLA and Johns Hopkins, with goals that include therapies to block cravings, cheaper detox and vaccine research.

At the event, McDermott told Us Weekly that recovery had made him a more present father and that he is working to repair the damage he caused his children. “We’re starting to heal. A lot of work to do, but you know we’re doing it,” he said. He attended with his girlfriend, Lily Calo. He shares five children with Spelling, Liam, Stella, Hattie, Finn and Beau, and has an older son, Jack, from his first marriage, to Mary Jo Eustace.

Groubert opened Wednesday’s show with the interview. He was skeptical from the start, beginning with the charity’s name. “A badly named NGO called Cure Addiction Now, as if there is a cure for addiction,” he said. The organization describes its mission as funding research toward better treatment and, ultimately, a cure.

He was more pointed about the format of the evening, with a celebrity in recovery as the featured speaker. “This is where celebrities go to speak at these NGOs who have very limited sobriety and are going to explain to them how they did it,” he said. Working from McDermott’s account, he estimated that the actor had about three years clean and allowed that he might be off. McDermott’s own figure, given to Us Weekly, is three years and four months.

Groubert questioned the parenting advice. He said a man who did not get sober until 56 was in a poor position to lecture other parents about their children. He also challenged the phrase “unconditional love with firm boundaries,” saying “unconditional” did not seem like the right word if boundaries were attached.

The co-parenting claim drew his sharpest response. “I don’t know how you do that beautifully when your father is in and out of multiple rehabs every other year,” he said. He closed the segment by calling the McDermott and Spelling story an odd one.

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance use, call the SAMHSA National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357.