There's one word you more than likely won't use when describing the lives of Tori Spelling and her husband Dean McDermott and that word is boring. As the sixth season of their Oxygen reality series, "Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood" kicks off tonight, viewers will see the twosome juggle their respective acting careers, Tori's best-selling book ventures and their two small children, Liam and Stella, but there's still room for a new venture - opening a retail store in Los Angeles to clear out the overstuffed garage filled with furniture and antique items that Tori has accumulated over the years. However, as busy as opening a new store can be, tonight's premiere also reveals another unexpected project - baby number three!
Yesterday, our Jim Halterman worked his way onto Spelling and McDermott's busy calendar to chat about how much of the new store venture we'll see in the season, what makes their relationship work and what they'll do if their kids want to enter the entertainment business. Also, during tonight's premiere, fans can tune into an online event at http://oxygenlive.com/ direct from the home of Tori and Dean and meet Baby McDermott (Hattie, who was born in October).
Jim Halterman: If there's one thing I take from your show it's that it looks like you're both always so busy. Does it feel like that to you or is it just everyday life?
Tori Spelling: That's the way it is but it's even crazier in my head. [Laughs.]
Dean McDermott: Her head is always going! She can't shut it off!
JH: Was opening the store what you expected or was it way more than you thought it would be?
TS: Thank goodness for Dean because I was doing my book shoot at the same time so it was kind of crazy timing. He really stepped in and did an amazing job. I guess it was more than we thought. We thought it would be easier but it's a lot harder running a business than it looks.
JH: So is your garage all emptied out?
TS: I wouldn't exactly say that.
JH: Dean, what would you say?
DM: [Laughs.] One day I hope to have a garage all to myself.
JH: How much of the store do we see in the new season? Is it the main thrust of what we'll see?
TS: The store is definitely in it because that's what we're doing and this is the reality of our lives and we had a business that was starting but everything took a left turn when I got pregnant with Hattie. The pregnancy became a big focus and that was not something that we had planned on.
JH: You gave birth to Hattie last month. Does that make it into the show or was shooting already completed?
TS: No, it actually is. [Laughs.] We filmed the whole season during my pregnancy and then Hattie's arrival is our final episode of the season.
JH: There's a live streaming event [tonight], right?
TS: Yeah, we're really excited about that because the show has been off for a year and a half so we're super excited for fans to see and catch up with us. It seems like it's been so long since we've been on air and usually weekly we'll do an online feed with fans to interact with fans while they watch the show but Oxygen is doing a special thing this time and they're going to have a live feed straight into our home [at http://OxygenLive.com] and it will be live on television, not just online.
JH: We see the Guncles (gay uncles) in the premiere, who have adopted a baby. Do you think you have started the trend with your friends or is it just timing?
TS: Babies are contagious. It's so funny, just when you think someone is pregnant, then you find out another one is pregnant. Babies are such a blessing and so nice. I think when you're in that mode you realize so many people are having babies.
JH: Do you think the fact that you and Dean are both in the entertainment business is part of the reason why your relationship works so well?
DM: I think that's part of it but at the base of it is the fact that we are soul mates; we are best friends. Even if we weren't in the same business we'd still have that connection. We have that magic, that lightning in the bottle that's there. I'm also madly in love with her.
TS: Awwww!
JH: You both have an entrepreneurial spirit with opening the store and Tori you're writing books and doing so many projects. Is that just part of who you are or have you acquired those skills over time?
TS: I love creating and I think in a way I get a lot of that from my Dad, which I'm really proud of. I don't know, we're always thinking of ideas. We'll be there eating and go, 'What about this idea? Or that idea?' We kind of bat them back and forth. The hardest part of life, I think because everyone has ideas, is acting on ideas. I think a lot of people sit around and think of ideas but they don't know how to do it. We don't know how to do it either but we jump in and do it wholeheartedly and go for it!
JH: What about your 'sTORIbook Weddings' show? Is that coming back?
TS: I don't know. Ask Oxygen!
DM: People really liked it but the time changed around a couple of times so it never got a chance to find an audience and a following but the people who did watch it and followed it loved it.
TS: We had the best time doing it. Everyone knows I love planning a party so getting to do a wedding was an amazing, amazing experience. It was a lot of scrambling but it was the best time. I wish Oxygen would do another season of it. We haven't heard either way but who knows.
JH: You have both been in the business a long time but what will you do if your kids want to follow your footsteps? Will you encourage them or tell them to wait until they're older?
DM: I think we're both on the same page where we would never discourage the kids from anything that they're interested in. We want to make sure that they're fully educated about the ups and downs of acting or whatever they decide to choose. As long as they head into it with a head full of knowledge we'll support them 150%.
"Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood" airs Tuesdays at 10:00/9:00c on Oxygen.
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