Tori Spelling’s ex Dean McDermott is now a drug and alcohol counselor after getting sober following ‘horrible’ battle with addiction: ‘I needed help’

Dean McDermott revealed he has become a drug and alcohol counselor, following his own ‘horrible’ battle with addiction.

Tori Spelling‘s ex, 57, discussed how his journey to sobriety and living in a sober facility have helped him turn his life around in a new interview with Page Six. 

‘I am clean and sober … I got to a place where I finally surrendered and admitted that I needed help,’ he told the publication. 

‘The way I was running my life, the way I was running the show was not right. Not, good for anybody — myself, my family and Tori. It was a horrible way to live. So I finally surrendered and asked for help, and I got it.’ 

McDermott also gushed over his new girlfriend Lily Calo, 32 — whom he’s been linked to since October 2023 — for being a great support system. He praised his ex Tori, 50, as well, calling his estranged wife his ‘biggest supporter.’ 

Tori Spelling’s ex, 57, discussed how his journey to sobriety and living in a sober facility have helped him turn his life around in a new interview with Page Six; they are seen in 2023

The couple — who split in 2023 — share children Liam, 17, Beau, 7, Finn, 11, Hattie, 12, and Stella, 15.

Speaking of Lily he said: ‘She’s a great support for me… we check in with each other every day and keep each other accountable.’

‘She just really is a great — great help to me,’ the actor — who previously revealed how his violent alcoholic rages left his family ‘petrified’ — shared. 

Meanwhile he admitted that Tori ‘has always been my biggest supporter, my biggest fan. She just wants me to be happy — bottom line — she’s such an incredible woman that way.’

He added that she is ‘one of the most generous people’ he’s ever met, and called her ‘caring, empathetic’ and someone who ‘wants the best for everybody.’

‘Sometimes at the expense of her happiness, which is which is not good as we know. But that’s the kind of person she is.’

He admitted that co-parenting with Spelling was ‘a little rough at first’ but he ‘wouldn’t change it for the world.’

Aside from his five kids with Tori he also shares a son — Jack Montgomery McDermott, 25 — with ex-wife Mary Jo Eustace.

‘I am clean and sober … I got to a place where I finally surrendered and admitted that I needed help,’ he told the publication

‘The way I was running my life, the way I was running the show was not right. Not, good for anybody — myself, my family and Tori. It was a horrible way to live. So I finally surrendered and asked for help, and I got it’; seen in 2018

Besides being a certified breathwork specialist, he also operates process groups with addicts and alcoholics with his business partner Eric Dufner

Despite his new career he says he will continue acting. ‘I’ll continue with the drug and alcohol rehabilitation and acting. I never left’; Dean and Tori seen in 2006

McDermott sought help at Harmony Place Treatment Center in Woodland Hills, California, and Freedom House Sober Living.

‘It’s amazing when we ask — it’s a simple thing, but very difficult to do when you’re at the end of your rope and don’t know where to turn,’ he shared.

The Canadian actor shared that once inside he made a deal with himself to be in ‘100 percent’ or not at all.

‘Coming in at 55 years old — it’s just not a good look. I had to get this right,’ he added.

McDermott says he was in a six days a week treatment program, and attended four groups a day.

He says one group in particular — breathwork — helped him change his life, though he was skeptical about it at first, calling it ‘a little artsy fartsy.’

‘I gave it a try, and I fell in love with it. It changed my life. The very first session I’ve ever had.’

Since getting sober he says life has been ‘amazing’ and that he has changed up his career and opened the Conscious Community Global.

He praised his ex Tori calling her his ‘biggest supporter’ and ‘biggest fan’ saying ‘She just wants me to be happy — bottom line — she’s such an incredible woman that way’; Tori seen in 2023

He admitted that co-parenting with Spelling was ‘a little rough at first’ but he ‘wouldn’t change it for the world’; seen in 2023 

‘I work in recovery today because of my experience, in treatment and sober living. I’m an alcohol and drug counselor, and I work with other treatment centers. I work with alcoholics and addicts and help them find the path, that I found and the one that I’m on now. It’s incredibly rewarding.’

Besides being a certified breathwork specialist, he also operates process groups with addicts and alcoholics with his business partner Eric Dufner.

‘We’re a one-stop shop for things that you need at a treatment center or an outpatient program — sound baths, yoga, breath process groups, you name it, we can facilitate it,’ he explained.

‘One of the big sayings in treatment is to sit on your hands, shut your mouth and take directions from people who have been there before. Which is very hard for addicts and alcoholics to take direction or even be teachable because we’re so stuck in our self-will and our ego that’s what’s driving us.’

Despite his new career he says he will continue acting.

‘I’m very fortunate that I have two gifts and two passions that I get to pursue in my life. So I’ll continue with the drug and alcohol rehabilitation and acting. I never left.’

In November of last year McDermott told DailyMail.com in a world exclusive interview how their marriage imploded as the couple grew apart – their problems made worse by his addiction to booze and prescription drugs.

‘All Tori’s ever done to this day is want me to be happy and healthy and I inflicted a lot of damage and pain on that woman,’ he told DailyMail.com.

By the time he hit rock bottom, Dean says the duo were living like ‘roommates’ and plagued by money worries and paparazzi while he was deeply depressed, mainlining tequila and drugs alone each night and flying into alcohol-fueled rages that ‘petrified’ his wife and children.

The couple — who split in 2023 — share Liam, 16; Stella, 15; Hattie, 12; Finn, 11; and Beau, seven; pictured here at the Beverly Hilton in June 2023

He told how he would pass out, leaving a worried Tori frantically checking on him to make sure he was still alive.

Dean said: ‘Alcohol made me feel good enough. I started feeling good enough until it got to a point where it didn’t – it ended up in isolation.

‘It ended up with me drinking a fifth of tequila every night, seven days a week, and a handful of narcos [prescription meds] by myself with a beautiful family in the other room.

‘That’s what it led to and that’s what led to the brokenness and to what happened between me and Tori.

‘I couldn’t do it anymore. I couldn’t live that life anymore. I was tired of the anger and the yelling.’

Despite that and his new relationship with Texan Lily, Dean says he still loves Tori and has no regrets about their life together.