From her days as a '90s TV standout to becoming a loving mother of five, the story of Tori Spelling's transformation is worth spelling out.
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00:00From her days as a 90s TV standout to becoming a loving mother of five,
00:04the story of Tori Spelling's transformation is worth spelling out.
00:08As the daughter of Hollywood producer Aaron Spelling, it's no surprise that
00:12Tori kicked off her acting career when she was only seven years old.
00:15In 1981, she made her acting debut in the television show
00:19Vegas, which her father produced. At the time, she had already developed a keen
00:23sense of fashion. Her feminine dresses and voluminous hair
00:26perfectly reflected the style trends of the 80s,
00:29but maintaining her image at such a young age came with a dark side.
00:33Later on in her career, Spelling opened up about her mother's extreme criticism
00:37of her appearance. She wrote in her book, Storytelling,
00:40"...I went into my parents' bathroom, all dressed up, with my hair done as best I
00:44could manage, and asked my mother, am I pretty? She
00:47looked at me and said, you will be when we get your nose done."
00:50Sure enough, Tori ended up getting a nose job right when she turned 16.
00:54In 1990, Spelling's life changed forever when she was cast as Donna Martin in
00:59Beverly Hills, 90210. The show launched her into the
01:02national spotlight.
01:04I love your top. Would you consider a trade?
01:11Even though she was now one of the biggest 90s teen stars,
01:14Spelling revealed that fame didn't really register as something new to her,
01:17as she'd already spent her childhood regularly attending Hollywood events.
01:21But now, fashion played a major role in Spelling's public appearances,
01:25and she certainly made the most of the decade's early trends.
01:29Edgy chokers and fun slipdresses were closet staples for the star.
01:33By the time Spelling entered into her 20s, she had firmly established herself
01:37as a television staple.
01:39You tell yourself you deserve it.
01:41I know I deserve it.
01:43She'd become so enthralled in her work, in fact, that her father took notice.
01:47He told Entertainment Weekly in 1996,
01:50She's a workaholic. She did four movies and 30 episodes of 90210 in 14 months.
01:55She's more determined than people realize.
01:58Despite this determination and fame, however, Spelling still had plenty of insecurities.
02:03It wasn't just because of her mother, either.
02:05Her relationship with actor Nick Savalas was also to blame.
02:08She confessed to Entertainment Weekly,
02:10He was never physically abusive, but he was verbally abusive,
02:14telling me ten times a day how ugly I was.
02:16I cried all the time. I'm not very confrontational.
02:19I'm afraid to fight.
02:20My parents cried for months because they knew how unhappy I was.
02:24Thankfully, the relationship ended in 1995, only a few years after it began.
02:29Spelling didn't let her insecurities stop her from
02:32wowing the crowds with her incredible fashion sense.
02:34With a new millennium around the corner,
02:36the television star foreshadowed some big Y2K trends,
02:40including metallic clothing and maximalist layering.
02:43In the early aughts, Spelling served us looks that often
02:46included low-waisted jeans or halterneck dresses.
02:49Both of which were peak fashion at the time.
02:51The star also never shied away from showing some skin,
02:54and her makeup and hair were rarely minimalistic.
02:57In fact, the infamous Y2K hair poof was a staple for Spelling's red carpet looks.
03:02In 2004, after two years of dating, Spelling married actor Charlie Shanian.
03:08For their ceremony, the two put their trust in wedding planner Mindy Weiss,
03:12who admitted that, just like everyone else on their big day,
03:15the celebs dealt with some jitters.
03:17She told The New York Times the following year,
03:19They have anxiety about being in front of a lot of people.
03:22The toast? What they'll look like walking down the aisle.
03:24Real-life emotion can be a very intimidating experience."
03:28Still, Spelling and Shanian pulled through and had a gorgeous ceremony.
03:32Turns out, though, the marriage wasn't meant to last.
03:35Spelling had an affair with fellow actor Dean McDermott after
03:38meeting him on the set of Mind Over Murder.
03:41This stuff always seems to happen at work, doesn't it?
03:43What do you say?
03:45What do you think?
03:46Come on, I'll buy you a cup of coffee.
03:48Her divorce from Shanian was finalized in April 2006,
03:52and only a month later, she tied the knot with McDermott.
03:55A year after they got hitched, Spelling gave birth to the couple's first child, a son named Liam.
04:01In 2007, Spelling opened up to people about her body image issues during her pregnancy.
04:06She said,
04:07"...I would have some days where I would feel really proud of my tummy
04:10and walk in front of a mirror and be amazed by it,
04:12and I'd have some days where I felt like a whale.
04:14I gained weight in places that I didn't know I could ever gain weight in."
04:18She acknowledged, however, that she was thankful her weight didn't get too out of hand.
04:22She explained,
04:23"...I have been lucky. I don't know if it was genetics or age.
04:26I would eat healthy at times and pig out at times,
04:28but I never had to go on a strict diet plan."
04:31In 2008, Spelling and McDermott welcomed their second child, Stella.
04:36Thanks to motherhood and now being in her 30s, Spelling's style began to change.
04:40Most of her outfits were now a bit more modest than the ones she rocked in the late 90s and
04:44early aughts, and it was around this time that she decided platinum blonde was her favorite hair
04:49color. And of course, she's stuck to it ever since. Perhaps because she was now a mom herself,
04:54the actor began opening up more about her relationship with her own mother,
04:57Candy. She admitted to People in 2009,
05:00"...I love my mother. I've always loved her. And no doubt she loves me.
05:04There's no feud. We simply never meshed."
05:07Candy, however, claimed that Spelling had shut her out and not allowed her to see her grandchildren.
05:11She told People the month before,
05:13"...I've tried to talk to her, but that doesn't work."
05:16She may not even know why she's angry. Candy has, however,
05:19admitted that she isn't the best when it comes to communicating. In an interview with Oprah,
05:23she said that seeking out therapy later in life helped her realize how important it is.
05:28"...I need to talk about things to understand things,
05:31and I just wish if I could go back that that's what I would really change."
05:35As Spelling neared her 40s, her style became increasingly classy and glamorous,
05:40with the actor favoring simple silhouettes and delicate designs. Still, she kept her look fun
05:45and unexpected mostly through her makeup, which remained bold and dramatic thanks to her signature
05:50dark lip. It was also around this time that Spelling started to open up about the plastic
05:54surgery she'd had done, and why she regretted it. In 2011, while she was pregnant with her
05:59third child, she told Good Morning America that she never would have gotten breast implants if
06:04she'd known that it would affect the production of milk in her body.
06:07"...I would never have had them done. I mean, I love being a mom. I'm on my third baby. We
06:11want to have more. Like, that's my role. You know, these, these don't matter."
06:15She also opened up about juggling her career and motherhood,
06:18and the guilt she felt when she just couldn't find enough time for both.
06:21She revealed to Parenting magazine that same year,
06:24"...There are days when I struggle with wanting to be a full-time,
06:26stay-at-home mom and feeling guilty about that because I work.
06:29There's this one mom at school who'll be like,
06:31oh, we're having this play date or whatever. Can you come?"
06:35Recently, when I said I couldn't, she said,
06:37"...Oh, you never go to anything. That hit me really hard."
06:40Though the birth of her third child, Hattie, went according to plan,
06:43Spelling experienced complications with her fourth pregnancy in 2012.
06:48She revealed to ABC News that December,
06:50"...I remember at one point one of my doctors said,
06:53just get, let's, let's get to 28 weeks. Get, get that baby to 28 weeks."
06:59For both her and the child's safety, Spelling was hospitalized for a while,
07:03a time period that left her incredibly homesick. She said,
07:06"...I missed the big moments. I missed Liam's preschool graduation,
07:10Stella's birthday party, Hattie's when she first started to crawl and her first word."
07:14Luckily, both she and her child made it through,
07:16and in August that year, she gave birth to her second son, Finn.
07:20Throughout the first part of her fourth pregnancy,
07:22we got to see Spelling Rock numerous maternity looks,
07:25which she was incredibly good at styling. The actor officially turned 40 in 2013,
07:30but her style remained youthful and trendy even though she maintained a high level of
07:34sophistication. Unfortunately, 2013 didn't end on a good note for Spelling,
07:39as news broke that McDermott was cheating on her. With an infidelity scandal made so public,
07:45she decided that the only right way to handle the situation was to clear it up publicly too,
07:49and she did just that, on her reality show, True Tory.
07:53Spelling discussed a call with her publicist,
07:55in which she was warned that the news was going to break in about a week.
07:59"'The girl has come forward. She's put her name to the story.
08:03She's giving all the details about her two-day affair.'"
08:08Spelling went on to reveal that Dean, in the wake of the scandal,
08:11had decided to go into treatment for sex addiction and work on himself.
08:15She said,
08:16"'I know that he's my soulmate, the love of my life, and he broke my heart.'"
08:20Even though she was privately going through a terrible ordeal,
08:23Spelling kept her public appearances as professional as always.
08:26She became rather fond of bright colors,
08:28which she often rocked to industry events as if to signal that everything would be all right.
08:33Spelling and McDermott managed to get through their rough patch
08:36and continued to raise their growing family together.
08:39In 2016, Spelling opened up to People about her family dynamic,
08:43and even sharing an unexpected anecdote. She revealed,
08:46"'I don't know the right thing. I'm learning as I'm going.
08:49In our house we talk about everything, really no holds barred. People are obsessed with me
08:54getting my breast implants removed because they're recalled and expired.
08:57My daughter Stella overheard and said,
08:59"'Huh? Your boobs aren't real?' I was like,
09:01"'Oh my God!' I didn't know what to do."
09:04In 2017, Spelling gave birth to her fifth child, Beau.
09:08In a candid conversation with Lenny a year later, she revealed her plans for the future, saying,
09:13"'I want to be producing others and be behind the camera,
09:16be at home, be with my kids and have a production company.'"
09:20Like most celebrities, we didn't get to see much of Spelling in 2020 due to
09:23the coronavirus pandemic. Once lockdown rules eased up and the entertainment industry went
09:28back to something resembling normal, though, Spelling graced plenty of events.
09:32Her style at this point had become much more daring and funky than what we were used to from
09:36the star. During the pandemic, Spelling made headlines by revealing the extent to which
09:41she was bullied at the beginning of her career. She wrote in a candid Instagram post that October,
09:46"'When I started 90210 at 16, I was filled with low self-confidence.
09:51Then internet trolls called me frog and bug-eyed. Being put under a microscope as a young girl in
09:56her formative years was hard. I spent years begging makeup artists on my shows and movies
10:01to please try to make my eyes look smaller. I would cry over my looks in the makeup trailer chair."
10:06"'I'm an idiot, Brenda. A total idiot.'"
10:10The star also urged everyone to be kinder. Just remember next time that you go to comment
10:15on someone's account regarding their face or body or choices, you don't know them.
10:19But their soul will remember that unkind comment.
10:23By 2022, it certainly seemed as if Spelling had finally defeated her insecurities and entered a
10:28new era, one in which she was unapologetically confident. This, of course, was also reflected
10:33in her style, as the actor was now even more daring. Spelling kept up with fashion trends so
10:39well that it almost seemed as if she was ready to be a new person. Cut to 2023, and news broke
10:44that she had separated from McDermott. Speaking to E! News, Spelling revealed that finding her
10:49confidence took time. She said,
10:51"'I definitely didn't find my stride with my self-confidence until probably my 30s.
10:56But I've got to admit, I would say this past year I am feeling the most confident I ever have in my
11:00entire life. I'm 48 years old and I feel like I look better than when I was in my 30s or 20s even,
11:06so it's definitely important to me. For my kids, especially my daughters.'"
11:11Today, Spelling is as confident as ever, and we have to give it to her. She looks incredible.
11:16Her confidence and self-love are really shining through, making the star even more gorgeous today.
11:21In an August 2024 episode of her podcast, Miss Spelling, the actor admitted that following
11:26through with the divorce was a change she needed. She revealed that she was ready for the separation
11:31and seeing her ex with a new woman wasn't as difficult as many would expect it to be.
11:35She said,
11:36"...I grieved and mourned the relationship during it. So when that part happened,
11:40that part was okay. It was more my focus was just on the kids and taking care of them,
11:44and that was hard for them."
11:46While we don't know what the future holds for Spelling, one thing is sure,
11:49the star will continue transforming, and we have no doubt that her style,
11:53maturity, and outlook on life will continue to be inspiring.