Being “The Other Woman” wasn’t easy for Mary Jo Eustace.
“Your life is one way, and then 10 minutes later your life is another way,” the ex-wife of actor Dean McDermott tells “Access Hollywood.”
A life changed in an instant. Married at the time for 12 years, Mary Jo Eustace relives the moment her then husband, Dean McDermott, announced his extra-marital affair with Tori Spelling — who was also married at the time
“I said have you met someone,” Mary Jo continued. “And he said, ‘Yes.’ And I said, ‘Is it Tori Spelling?’ ‘We’re soul mates,’ he responded.”
“I really didn’t know if it was true or not, I wasn’t really sure. Then it started to sink in that, yes, indeed this was true,” Mary Jo recounts.
Her world turned upside down in August of 2005 when Dean met Tori on the set of a Lifetime TV movie, “Mind Over Murder.”
Throughout his three week shoot schedule in Canada, Mary Jo had trouble reaching Dean from home, as she cared for their 7-year-old son and newly adopted infant daughter.
“The whole thing was just odd,” she continues. “My daughter was 3-and-a-half weeks, so I was just sort of maintaining at that point and thinking when we connect, I’ll find out really what the deal is, because I didn’t know.”
When Dean did return to California, the family of four headed to Palm Springs for a previously booked vacation — and it’s there in a hotel room where he unleashed the devastating news.
“He said, you know, ‘She loves me unconditionally.’ I said, ‘It’s been three weeks!? You know how can someone love you unconditionally?!’”
“It was just kind of a bad TV movie, that’s what it sounded, very rehearsed.
“In the short story, I write about being told of the affair and turning towards the window and seeing these really heavy velvet drapes in Palm Springs and I thought these drapes don’t belong here, I don’t belong here. I think my life has really changed from 30 seconds ago to my life now; I knew intuitively and instinctively it was completely different.”
Healing through words, Mary Jo tells her side of the split through a short story featured in the compilation of short stories: “The Other Woman.”
“I thought it was a wonderful opportunity and an amazing forum to express a subject that’s essentially taboo with women,” Mary Jo explains about her decision to immortalize her story in print. “Even though my experience is heightened and surreal in a way, that I think the actual experience, everyone can relate to it. And I’m proud that I was asked to be in it, and I’m proud of the short story I contributed.
Dean is still involved in their son’s life — while Mary Jo says she finalized the adoption of her daughter as a single parent. And living in Canada has helped shield her kids from the tabloid headlines.
“If I see one more thing that I’m ‘dumped,’ or there was a catfight or, oh god — my epithet, it might be ‘Was dumped for Tori Spelling.”
Until then Mary Jo is carrying on making the most of her life, raising her children and working in radio.
“I’d like to say I had a full life before this happened and now life is different, but you know, I am proud of this anthology. And I am all for women examining these topics, no matter who the other woman is, so I’m proud of that. I do a radio morning show in Canada. 103.9, Proud FM, which I love, which is a ton of fun. It’s talk and music. I did a cooking show called “What’s For Dinner?” in Canada, we did 600 episodes, a comedy cooking show and my partner and I, Ken Kostick, do this morning show and it’s just silly and fun. And I’ve done a few pilots for some shows down here. We’ve moved, we’ve definitely moved on, we’re moving beyond it and through it… it’s so much better now.”