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Tori Spelling has ‘no regrets’ about reality series

“People have this stereotype of who I was,” says the former “Beverly Hills, 90210" star — which is why she’s glad that viewers of “Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood” can see that she and husband Dean McDermott are “just like them.”
/ Source: TODAY contributor

Through three seasons of their hit reality show on the Oxygen network, Tori Spelling and husband/actor Dean McDermott have tried to show that they are like any normal couple dealing with typical issues.

Of course, they acknowledge that most couples aren’t dealing with mama-hood and papa-razzi at the same time.

Still, Spelling, who first gained fame for her portrayal of spoiled rich kid Donna Martin on “Beverly Hills, 90210,” has had no reservations about making their lives an open book on “Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood.”

“Not at all,” Spelling told TODAY’s Natalie Morales on Wednesday. “No regrets. I mean, for so long, my life was so misconstrued in the press. People have this stereotype of who I was.

“And now, through this series, they get to know us. They get to see we’re just like them — minus the paparazzi in Hollywood.”

For McDermott, there has been satisfaction in connecting with the show’s viewers.

“We constantly run into fans who are like, ‘You guys are so normal. You’re so relatable,’ ” he said. “That’s been a great thing about the show.”

Reality checkSpelling, the daughter of late television mogul Aaron Spelling, has mostly focused on her domestic life since “Beverly Hills, 90210” went off the air in 2000 — although there have been professional projects throughout.

One such project was the TV-movie “Mind Over Murder,” on the set of which Spelling and McDermott met in 2005, when they were each married to other people. Both marriages dissolved as a result of their affair — a subject that has been addressed on their reality show.

In the first two seasons of “Tori & Dean,” the couple left Hollywood behind and opened up a bed-and-breakfast in Fallbrook, Calif. But after the birth of their first son, Liam, they decided to sell Chateau La Rue and move back to Hollywood — where it seems their every move is monitored.

McDermott, whose latest movie, “Saving God,” hits video stores in September, is seen in the show confronting photographers who get a little too close.

“Some days you handle it better than others,” McDermott told Morales. “It’s just when they sit in front of your house, they cross a line, I think. I think your house should be off-limits. But they’re literally sitting in the driveway.”

“It’s hard,” Spelling added with a laugh. “It’s a give-and-take.”

Also addressed on the show are the struggles Tori has with her mother, Candy — who made news last week by spending $47 million for the top two floors of a high-rise condominium in Century City.

The voyeuristic view into the couple’s lives has breathed some life into the Oxygen network as its highest-rated show, with network-record numbers for female viewers ages 18-49.

With four episodes left in season 3, viewers will get a sneak peek into the birth of Spelling’s and McDermott’s second child, Stella, born on June 9. But nothing was taped in the hospital room.

“Some things are sacred,” McDermott said.

Beverly Hills and back
Spelling will also return to her role as Donna Martin in the upcoming CW Network reprise of “Beverly Hills, 90210,” the new series titled simply “90210.” Her character will be “recurring,” but not a regular. Original show stars Shannen Doherty and Jennie Garth also make returns. Spelling, however, will not be part of the first few episodes because they taped the shows late in her pregnancy.

“I think the show is going to be great for the fans,” she said. “I don’t know much. I kind of read it as everyone else does — through the papers.”

But regardless of her involvement with the new “90210,” Spelling will be glad to hang on to her Oxygen reality series to continue to set her record straight.

“I would read all of that stuff [in the tabloids] and think, ‘I just wish my fans and friends out there could really get to know me,’ ” she said. “And I think they would really like me if they got to know me.

“We’re going through what everyone goes through,” she added. “We’re a normal family and we’re doing the best we can.”