Tori Spelling worried she’s ‘constantly’ letting her kids down following divorce from Dean McDermott

Tori Spelling has opened up about her mother’s guilt as a single parent and her concerns about not providing enough stability for her five children.

The actress, 51, who took her daughters Stella, 16, and Hattie, 13, to the 2024 iHeartRadio Jingle Ball in Los Angeles, spoke about relying on her Stella to pick up the slack at home in the latest song of her Podcast misspelled.

Spelling explained that she had been working hard on a project for the past three months and, like many single mothers, asked her children for help around the house.

“When I’m at work and I’m gone all day, it’s a big responsibility for my 16-year-old to really supervise the family,” she said. “I feel really guilty when I get home at the end of the day.”

Spelling shares Stella, Hattie, Liam, 17, Finn, 12, and Beau, seven, with her ex-husband Dean McDermott, 58.

“People have babysitters or nannies or housekeepers or things like that, but we’re just us. I know it’s probably very difficult for the public to understand, but it’s true.”

The influencer described her current situation to her guest, Dr. Hillary Goldsher, a psychotherapist in Beverly Hills, explaining, “As a parent, work was very financially stable for a very long time. I had multiple shows and multiple product lines and brands and was just a workhorse in an empire.”

‘Then I had four of my children and they couldn’t see another side. They could be living a certain life that I was providing for them through my work, and suddenly things weren’t stable anymore.”

The Beverly Hills 90210 alum claimed that due to the ups and downs of a career in entertainment, her income is “neither financially consistent nor stable.”

“With five children, I feel like I’m sorry. I constantly let them down because my life is not stable. Their lives are not stable,” she argued.

“I can give love in abundance, but unfortunately they are on this roller coaster with me.”

Spelling said that because of the change in her marital and financial circumstances, she is concerned that her children “are aware of more than I think I feel comfortable with children being aware of just because we are now moving as a family.’

“I’m so used to having such outwardly harsh reactions to my life, no matter what,” the Scary Movie 2 actress said.

“They are on this journey with me and I can’t keep things from them. I have kids old enough to read stuff online. They read the fake stuff, but they read the semi-accurate stuff and they read the real stuff.”

The actress, who took her daughters Stella, 16, and Hattie, 13, to the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball 2024 in Los Angeles, spoke about relying on Stella “to really oversee the family” while she’s at work.

Spelling shares Stella, Hattie, Liam, 17, Finn, 12, and Beau, seven, with her ex-husband Dean McDermott, 58

‘With five children I feel like I’m constantly letting them down because my life is not stable. Their lives are not stable’; seen with her children

“I can give love in abundance, but unfortunately they are on this roller coaster with me,” Spelling said of her family’s current situation; (Pictured in September in Los Angeles)

“And I’m not saying poor me – here I am defending myself again – but I feel like ever since my soon-to-be ex-husband and I broke up, it’s been fight or flight.”

“It’s been constant with five kids,” the Dancing with the Stars alum continued. “And whether it’s emotional, physical or financial, we’ve just been working on it.”

“When life keeps serving you things every day – unexpected things – you think, ‘Oh, I’m past that.’ And then suddenly you have a plan, boom. And it’s day to day.

“Divorce is nothing short of trauma,” the therapist told Spelling and her audience.

“I’m not surprised to hear that you’ve experienced—like many women going through divorce—that the fight or flight system is constantly activated.”

The Mystery Girls star spoke about the Sisyphean challenge of parenthood.

“I feel like I’m constantly climbing that hill, and I’m almost there, and then something happens,” she explained.

“And I know everyone can relate to this on different levels, but it’s like, ‘Okay. Here I am, I made it on my own again’ — and boom, I slid down the hill again.”

Tori recently talked about her relationship after the divorce with McDermott People: ‘We co-parent really well, we’re good friends, and he’s one of my biggest supporters.’

She filed for divorce from the Chopped Canada host on March 29, 2024, citing irreconcilable differences

She filed for divorce from the Chopped Canada host on March 29, 2024, citing irreconcilable differences.

The date of separation was listed as June 17, 2023.

Spelling and McDermott married in 2006, but the final years of their marriage became tumultuous, for which Dean has taken responsibility.

“All Tori has done to this day is want me to be happy and healthy, and I caused a lot of damage and pain to that woman,” he admitted to DailyMail.com in November 2023.

‘I take responsibility for that today. And it’s the biggest change I’ll ever have to make,” he added.