Dean McDermott (born November 16, 1966)
is a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
actor best known as a
reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...
personality with his wife, actress
Tori Spelling
Victoria Davey Spelling (born May 16, 1973) is an American actress and author. Her first major role was Donna Martin on ''Beverly Hills, 90210'', beginning in 1990. She has appeared in made for television films, including '' A Friend to Die F ...
, and as the host of the cooking competition ''
Chopped Canada
''Chopped Canada'' is a Canadian reality cooking television series based on the US series ''Chopped''. The program pits four chefs against each other as they compete to win $10,000 and the title of Chopped Canada Champion. It first aired on Jan ...
''. He played the role of
Constable Renfield Turnbull on the TV series ''
Due South
''Due South'' is a Canadian crime comedy-drama television series created by Paul Haggis, and produced by Alliance Communications from its premiere on April 26, 1994, to its conclusion after four seasons on March 14, 1999. The series starred Pau ...
''.
Early life
McDermott was born in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Canada, to David and Doreen McDermott.
He has three sisters, Dale, Dawn, and Dana. He graduated from North Albion Collegiate Institute in Rexdale, Ontario.
Career
McDermott has performed in films ''
Open Range
In the Western United States and Canada, open range is rangeland where cattle roam freely regardless of land ownership. Where there are "open range" laws, those wanting to keep animals off their property must erect a fence to keep animals out; th ...
'', ''
Irvine Welsh's Ecstasy
''Irvine Welsh's Ecstasy'' is a 2011 Canadian film adaptation of the short story " The Undefeated" from the best-selling book '' Ecstasy'' by Irvine Welsh. Directed by Rob Heydon, the film stars Adam Sinclair as Lloyd Buist, a drug user who s ...
'' and ''
Against the Ropes
''Against the Ropes'' is a 2004 American sports drama film directed by Charles S. Dutton (in his feature film directorial debut) and starring Meg Ryan and Omar Epps. The story is a fictionalized account of boxing manager Jackie Kallen, the first ...
''.
McDermott has appeared in several TV movies including ''Always and Forever'', ''
Santa Baby 2: Christmas Maybe'' and ''
A Christmas Visitor''.
McDermott has had a variety of guest and recurring roles on television series, such as ''
Earth: Final Conflict'', ''
Tracker'',''
1-800-Missing'', ''
NCIS'' and ''
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', also referred to as ''CSI'' and ''CSI: Las Vegas'', is an American procedural forensics crime drama television series that ran on CBS from October 6, 2000, to September 27, 2015, spanning 15 seasons. This wa ...
''. 2016 saw McDermott take on a starring role, portraying Iain Vaughn on ''
Slasher
Slasher may refer to:
* Slasher (basketball), a style of play in basketball
* Slasher film, a subgenre of the horror film
* Slasher (tool), a scrub-clearing implement
* ''Slasher'' (2004 film), a 2004 documentary film
* ''Slasher'' (2007 film) ...
''.
Culinary arts
McDermott is a professionally trained chef.
In 2013, he became a member of "Team
Guy" on the second season of
Food Network
Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ...
's ''
Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off'' and was the winner, and in January 2014, McDermott began hosting ''
Chopped Canada
''Chopped Canada'' is a Canadian reality cooking television series based on the US series ''Chopped''. The program pits four chefs against each other as they compete to win $10,000 and the title of Chopped Canada Champion. It first aired on Jan ...
'' on
Food Network Canada
Food Network, formerly called Food Network Canada, is a Canadian English language specialty channel based on the U.S. cable network of the same name. It airs programming related to food, cooking, cuisine, and the food industry. The Canadian versi ...
. McDermott hosted ''Chopped Canada'' for two seasons, announcing in March 2015 that he would leave the show.
McDermott released a cookbook ''The Gourmet Dad'', in which he wanted to make intimidating plates more attractive to kids.
Personal life
McDermott's first wife is actress
Mary Jo Eustace
Mary Josephine "Mary Jo" Eustace (born May 1, 1962) is a Canadian actress, singer-songwriter, comedian, model, author, and sous-chef best known as co-host of the Canadian cooking TV series '' What's for Dinner?''.
Early life
Eustace was born and ...
.
They have one child, son Jack Montgomery (born October 10, 1998). In July 2005, McDermott began filming the Lifetime TV movie ''Mind Over Murder'' in
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
, during which he met actress
Tori Spelling
Victoria Davey Spelling (born May 16, 1973) is an American actress and author. Her first major role was Donna Martin on ''Beverly Hills, 90210'', beginning in 1990. She has appeared in made for television films, including '' A Friend to Die F ...
, who was then married to writer-actor Charlie Shanian. Spelling and McDermott began cheating on their spouses the night they met. Upon his subsequent divorce from Eustace, McDermott was granted joint custody of their son Jack, opting not to move forward with the adoption of a baby girl, Lola, whom he and Eustace were in the process of adopting prior to their separation. However, according to recent Instagram posts, Tori Spelling refers to Lola Eustace as her “step daughter” and Lola refers to Dean McDermott as her “dad”.
McDermott married
Tori Spelling
Victoria Davey Spelling (born May 16, 1973) is an American actress and author. Her first major role was Donna Martin on ''Beverly Hills, 90210'', beginning in 1990. She has appeared in made for television films, including '' A Friend to Die F ...
on May 7, 2006, in
Fiji
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
. Spelling and McDermott renewed their vows on May 8, 2010, in
Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Bev ...
. Spelling and McDermott have five children: three sons, Liam Aaron (born March 13, 2007), Finn Davey (born August 30, 2012) and Beau Dean (born March 2, 2017) and two daughters, Stella Doreen (born June 9, 2008)
and Hattie Margaret (born October 10, 2011).
On July 1, 2010, McDermott was involved in a dirt bike accident, his second motorcycle accident of the year. He was hospitalized in Los Angeles with a punctured and collapsed lung, and doctors said they expected him to make a full recovery. McDermott was released from the hospital on July 6, 2010.
McDermott became an American citizen at a ceremony in Los Angeles on August 21, 2010.
2013 cheating scandal and aftermath
In December 2013, after welcoming their second son, ''
Us Weekly
''Us Weekly'' is a weekly celebrity and entertainment magazine based in New York City. ''Us Weekly'' was founded in 1977 by The New York Times Company, who sold it in 1980. It was acquired by Wenner Media in 1986, and sold to American Media Inc ...
'' broke the news that McDermott was unfaithful to Spelling. The couple worked through the aftermath of the affair on a
Lifetime series titled ''
True Tori
''True Tori'' is an American docu-series starring Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott
Dean McDermott (born November 16, 1966) is a Canadian actor best known as a reality television personality with his wife, actress Tori Spelling, and as the host ...
''.
On January 23, 2014, a month after the news broke, McDermott's publicist announced McDermott had entered rehab for "some health and personal issues."
While McDermott and Spelling's marriage was back on track, the couple once again made headlines in 2016 for owing $39,000 to
American Express
American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...
in unpaid credit card bills. McDermott's mother-in-law Candy, who was also on good terms with her daughter, told TMZ at the time that she was helping out the family financially.
In March 2018, McDermott and Spelling were in contact with the police three times over the course of nine days. On Thursday, March 1, McDermott called the police around 7:00 am to say that Spelling was going through some sort of mental breakdown. Per an
LAPD
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...
spokesperson, the situation ended up being a "domestic incident" and that "no crime" was committed. Nearly a week later, on Wednesday, March 7, the
Ventura County Sheriff's Office
The Ventura County Sheriff's Office (VCSO), also sometimes known as the Ventura County Sheriff's Department (VCSD), provides law enforcement for the unincorporated areas of Ventura County, California as well as several cities within the county. ...
showed up at a doctor's office around 9:45 am because of McDermott raising a concern. He called the police to check up on his wife after she had left their house with one of their kids and that he was worried about her well-being. The deputies located Spelling at the doctor's office, spoke to her and determined she and their kids were okay. Because no crime had been committed, no further action was taken. On Friday, March 9, Spelling and McDermott went out to dinner with their five children at the Black Bear Diner in
Tarzana, California
Tarzana is a suburban neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Tarzana is on the site of a former ranch owned by author Edgar Rice Burroughs. It is named after Burroughs' fictional jungle hero, Tarzan.
History ...
. However, the LAPD arrived at the restaurant and it appeared that the couple were having a serious conversation inside. Their meal was cut short when the family was escorted out the back of the restaurant. It was later reported that the reason why the police were called to the diner was because the paparazzi would not allow them to eat in peace and for the safety of Spelling, McDermott and their children, they needed a police escort from the restaurant.
It was reported in February 2019 that the couple appeared to be stronger than ever. According to Spelling, they didn't have relationship problems as they communicated.
In June 2021, it was reported that the couple's marriage has been in "trouble for over a year". They sparked split rumors after fans noticed that Spelling and McDermott stopped sharing photos of each other on social media and both being out and about without their wedding rings on. A source told ''
Us Weekly
''Us Weekly'' is a weekly celebrity and entertainment magazine based in New York City. ''Us Weekly'' was founded in 1977 by The New York Times Company, who sold it in 1980. It was acquired by Wenner Media in 1986, and sold to American Media Inc ...
'' that things between the couple are "not great". Spelling appeared on
Jeff Lewis' radio show, ''Jeff Lewis Live'', on June 16, 2021, and stated that she and McDermott do not sleep in the same bedroom anymore.
As of June 2022, McDermott and Spelling are currently in the midst of a trial separation. A source has said that they have considered ending their marriage. “They know divorce will be expensive and it’s not something they’re willing to go through right now. They both feel trapped,” the source says. “Having kids makes it more difficult because they don’t want their children to be unhappy, yet at the same time, Tori has been unhappy for quite a while now. They truly are still together for their kids.”
Filmography
Movies
Television
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDermott, Dean
1966 births
Living people
Male actors from Toronto
Canadian male film actors
Canadian male television actors
Canadian male voice actors
Canadian expatriate male actors in the United States
Canadian emigrants to the United States
20th-century Canadian male actors
21st-century Canadian male actors