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CNN Larry King Live

Tori Spelling Spilling Secrets

Aired March 14, 2008 - 21:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TORI SPELLING, ACTRESS: Oh, God, I knew I shouldn't have said anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY KING, HOST: Tonight, Tori Spelling spilling secrets. She was born and raised a Hollywood princess.

SPELLING: I guess I knew when I'd tell people that when my dad brought snow in for Christmas Day that that wasn't normal.

KING: One of her father's hit TV shows made her a star and a tabloid target. Behind the riches and the snow business razzle-dazzle, painful real life drama -- a mother-daughter feud, a romance that shattered two marriages.

SPELLING: I found my soul mate.

How could I deny that?

KING: Can Tori Spelling write a happy ending for herself?

Her story her way, next on LARRY KING LIVE.

It's a great pleasure to welcome to LARRY KING LIVE -- we knew her father well -- we now welcome her to this program, Tori Spelling. The actress probably best known for her role as Donna Martin on the TV series "Beverly Hills "90210"." She starred in "So Notorious" on VH1 and Oxygen reality series "Tori and Dean Inn Love" -- and inn love I- N-N. And she's author of a wild new memoir, "sTORI Telling." There you see its cover.

Why did you write this?

SPELLING: Why did I write this?

I just felt like for so many years people were telling my stories, but not telling them truthful. So I figured it's about time I told a few of my own. So I told my own stories.

KING: Take care of the tabloids?

SPELLING: Exactly. All the misconceptions. I clear it all up. That's right.

KING: Was it difficult, though, to lay it all out?

SPELLING: It was. It took me approximately two years to kind of -- from beginning to end. But it was very therapeutic, I have to say.

KING: It's cathartic too, right?

SPELLING: Yes, definitely.

KING: Was it hard, though, to write about things you -- you know, I mean you have to write about some difficult things here. We'll get into it, but...

SPELLING: It actually -- it wasn't. It was -- I thought long and hard about writing a book. And definitely a lot of things went through my mind about what I wanted to talk about, who I wanted to talk about. And once I made that choice, that I really wanted to put all of my life's stories into a book, it was pretty simple, because I knew they were my truths. So I just wanted to share it.

KING: Did your mom or your first husband read it?

SPELLING: I don't know.

KING: I mean did they read it before it was printed?

SPELLING: No.

KING: Had you heard about -- well, you're friendly with your mom now, right?

SPELLING: Yes.

KING: What does she think of it?

SPELLING: We have not talked about it, which, when people read this book, they'll understand why.

KING: Tell us about growing up Tori Spelling. I mean you lived in the biggest house in L.A. "90210")

SPELLING: Pretty much.

KING: That's what everyone says when we drive by.

SPELLING: That's what they tell me.

KING: What was that like, though, to be a kid there?

SPELLING: Well, it's hard, because from my perspective, I was born into that lifestyle. So...

KING: You didn't know anything else?

SPELLING: It was my version of normal. So I didn't know any different. Now, being an adult looking back, it's pretty amazing. And that's why I thought there were some great stories there to tell. KING: What about when friends came over?

SPELLING: They were pretty astonished, yes. I guess I knew when I would tell people that my dad brought snow in for Christmas Day that that wasn't normal. I would gauge that from their reaction.

KING: Bringing snow in?

SPELLING: Yes.

KING: So did you get it -- were you spoiled?

SPELLING: Yes.

KING: Did you get everything you wanted?

SPELLING: I didn't get everything I wanted, but I got a lot of what I wanted. And they definitely gave me a lot of what they wanted to give me. I got a lot of love.

KING: Your father was certainly generous.

SPELLING: Definitely.

KING: And he was notorious for that, right?

SPELLING: Yes, generous to a fault with everyone.

KING: That's with friends and -- he was an easy touch, right?

SPELLING: Yes.

KING: How good a father was he?

SPELLING: He was a great father. There was always time for love. I mean my dad was a workaholic. He worked all the time. But my brother and I and my mother, we always came first and we knew that. That was all very clear. There was always time made for us.

KING: You had the label, though, of poor little rich girl?

People might have felt sorry for you.

SPELLING: Boohoo, yes.

KING: Boohoo.

Your father appeared on this program in August of 1996. It's when I looked like the Pillsbury Dough Boy. And you called in.

SPELLING: I did?

KING: Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM 1996)

KING: Tori, what's it like working for your father?

SPELLING: Oh, it's great. Well, we have a great relationship, so it's like having a great boss, but he's my best critic so.

AARON SPELLING: I'm surprised that Tori has now done six television movies and won't done one for me, Larry.

KING: She won't?

A. SPELLING: So will you talk to her?

SPELLING: "90210") Make me an offer.

KING: Ah, you're a Spelling kid, aren't you?

Thanks, Tori.

SPELLING: Yes. He's the only man in my life -- the most important one at least.

KING: Oh, that's nice.

A. SPELLING: Thank you, baby.

KING: She's a hell of a talent, too.

A. SPELLING: Oh, yes, she is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: That was '96.

How old were you?

SPELLING: Oh my gosh.

KING: Twelve years ago.

SPELLING: Twelve years ago. Well, a lady never tells her age, but 12 younger -- oh, my goodness. You know, it's funny, he always was telling -- saying to me -- you know, what can I put you in next?

And, actually, the last time I saw him before he passed away -- and it was about two weeks before he died -- he was laying in his bed very frail and he said, what are we going to produce together next?

That was my dad.

KING: What did he die of?

SPELLING: I don't know. I don't know. I felt like he had a lot of years left in him. He was frail, but very -- he was still with it. He was asking me what I wanted to produce with him next. And he said come by the office next week. He wasn't even in the office anymore.

KING: He was always frail. SPELLING: He was.

KING: He was the skinniest guy I knew.

SPELLING: Yes.

KING: And he also wouldn't fly, right?

SPELLING: He wouldn't fly.

KING: Did you ever take any of those train trips?

SPELLING: I'm terrified of flying because of him.

KING: You, too?

SPELLING: Oh my goodness, I hate flying. Yes. From the time he was 18 on, he never flew. So we didn't travel much. You know, people think we took these extravagant family vacations, you know, traveled everywhere. We actually didn't. Vegas. We went to Vegas every summer because we could drive there.

KING: Did you want to be an actress?

SPELLING: I did, desperately, from the time I was five on.

KING: What was your first break or role?

Well, did Aaron make...

SPELLING: It was for my dad, of course. It was for Vegas. I was in Vegas (INAUDIBLE).

KING: And you liked it?

SPELLING: I loved it. I loved it. I had two lines, I went out there, I did it, I did them perfect for two lines. And they called me one take Tori. And I was smitten -- smitten by the acting bug.

KING: Did your mother approve?

SPELLING: Yes. She used to take me to the set. She was -- she said she can never be a stage mother, because she didn't like watching that. But she was great about taking me on my projects.

SPELLING: Tell me about "Beverly Hills "90210"".

SPELLING: I was 16 when I started that show. My dad gave me the part, obviously. There was always -- the big story is that I went in under an assumed name.

KING: Is that true?

SPELLING: There was some -- it started as truth, but, of course they knew. You know, I was very -- I've always been the type of person that wanted everything on my own, wanted to do it for myself. So I called my agent when I read the script -- it was in my dad's briefcase -- and said I wanted to get an audition. And she kind of chuckled because it was my dad's show and she figured well, can't he just give you the role?

And I said please call them and tell them, you know, you have a client with this name and I want to come in and read.

So she did. I'm sure right after that she said, and by the way, it's Tori Spelling.

But, nonetheless, I got the job.

KING: Was that show a hit right away?

SPELLING: No, it wasn't. It wasn't a hit until about the second season. We actually weren't doing great and then second season started, we took off and that's when we became a huge hit.

KING: What changed around?

Did they change some of the ideas or they changed the time?

SPELLING: I don't remember. I don't remember. I think it just -- it caught on. I mean it was the -- really the first of its kind, a teen drama.

KING: When you were the boss' daughter, didn't that put a little tinge on you, you know, it's a wrap, Tori, how is it?

Were you treated special?

SPELLING: I didn't want to be treated special. That was my worst fear is that I would get special treatment because I was the producer's daughter. I used to -- the first year I showed up on set an hour early each day. I'd sit outside in my car and wait for my call time and walk in the trailer and make sure I was there right on time. I was always the best behaved. I knew all my lines and everyone else's lines because I didn't want them ever saying well, she got the job because of her dad and look how she spoiled this. This is how she's acting.

But they didn't. They all treated me fairly.

KING: Tori Spelling.

Before we got to break, check out Donna Martin and the notorious class of '93 in the smash hit series "Beverly Hills "90210"".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "90210," COURTESY PARAMOUNT)

Guys, can you help me?

I'm having a little trouble walking in this thing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the graduate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "90210," COURTESY PARAMOUNT)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, there's a name for a girl like that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Slut.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And let's hear it for the class of '93, guys.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: That was Tori Spelling as the innocent but lovable Donna Martin on the mega hit sit com, "Beverly Hills "90210"".

You write: "In the course of 10 years of doing that show, everyone on the cast pretty much slept with everyone else."

That includes you I would assume.

(LAUGHTER)

KING: Was that hard to write?

SPELLING: That line?

KING: That whole concept?

SPELLING: I knew people wanted something juicy about "90210." They wanted something a little more than what they had seen. So I thought that was -- you know, we were all together for 10 years and we were best friends and since, you know, everyone is kind of interchangeable. So I thought that was important to write. I don't describe who slept with who, because those are their stories to tell not mine.

KING: Are you friends with all of them?

SPELLING: I'm friendly with all of them. You know, our paths went different ways, so we don't always see each other a lot. I'm still really close with Jenny Garth.

KING: Did your father know about what was going on with "90210?"

SPELLING: Um-hmm.

(LAUGHTER)

KING: Knowing him, he probably encouraged it. Hey, this will add to the -- it will add to the mix.

SPELLING: Yes, definitely. My dad knew everything going on. He had to have pictures of our wardrobe, our hair. And he would tell me what was current -- what skirts were in and what length.

KING: Now from "90210," Tori Spelling becomes a tabloid hit, right?

You're a hit, but you're also a tabloid hit.

How did you deal with it?

SPELLING: That was hard. Not a hit in a good way. The tabloids start writing about me when the show became a hit. And that was really hard to take, because I remember the first big tabloid article I ever read was I heard I was in the tabloids. It was "The Globe, " I think. And I was really excited, my first, you know, big thing. And I opened it up and it was saying what kinds of surgery I had had -- plastic surgery. I was 17-years-old. I had had my nose done at 16. That was it. And they had all these circles -- I couldn't even see my face. There were Xs and circles all over, ribs were moved, chin implants, cheek implants. And I just sat there and looked at that and cried.

And to this day, people still think I've had tons of plastic surgery because of that one article. And people oh say, oh, by next week they'll be talking about someone else. Well, that one article stayed with me my whole life.

KING: And still the only thing you did was the nose?

SPELLING: No, I've had one more thing done.

(LAUGHTER)

KING: But it must have been brutal to...

SPELLING: Look down, Larry.

(LAUGHTER)

KING: I'm trying to avoid it.

SPELLING: Sorry.

KING: It must have been brutal, though, to a 17-year-old.

SPELLING: It was -- it was horrifying, because at 17, I don't care who you are and what you're doing, you're going through your formative years. You're insecure about yourself. You're just figuring out who you are, especially as a woman and coming into your own. And to have people writing how horribly ugly you are and you've had to have all this plastic surgery to look all right, it was -- it was devastating.

KING: How did your father deal with it?

SPELLING: He told me not to read the tabloids. He said don't read them. He said don't worry about it. He said you're going to prove them all wrong.

KING: It didn't bother him?

SPELLING: I'm sure it did bother him, but he didn't tell me that.

KING: The coverage now, a lot different -- the Britney Spears, the Lindsay Lohans.

What do you make of that, looking at it from the perspective of you 12 years ago?

SPELLING: Right. It's extremely different. And I think it's extremely different because at least back when "90210" became a hit, you know, I was just like any other young girl when I was 18, when I was 21. I was going out -- you know, I was in the club scene.

I was exploring, you know?

That's what all young kids do. But it wasn't -- your personal lives were your personal lives still. You know, you expected if you went to a club or a restaurant or shopping that you would get your picture taken. You know, now they follow you home. It's a whole different ball game.

KING: Worse?

SPELLING: It's so much worse. You have no private time. These poor girls. They can't lead a normal life even if they wanted to.

KING: So do you have empathy for like what they go through?

SPELLING: I completely do. And I think anyone that doesn't, they see the pictures simply in the magazines. They don't know what's behind the cameras when those pictures are taken and what these girls are going through.

KING: Why do you think all that's news?

SPELLING: I don't know. But it makes me sad, because I think the one great thing about Hollywood is there was some mystique to it...

KING: Yes.

SPELLING: ...that you kind of got to see your favorite actors, but you didn't know exactly what was going on in their personal lives. And that was intriguing. Now you see it all.

KING: What was the worst thing ever written about you?

SPELLING: Other than the plastic surgery?

I think that was probably the worse.

KING: Did you ever read a profound lie?

SPELLING: Oh, yes. I mean some of them are comical. Some of them that I laughed at. That I had crushed up diamonds put into nail polish and I took that to the manicurist and each nail was like a thousand dollar nail. That was interesting.

KING: All right.

Now, where do they get that?

SPELLING: I have no idea. I don't know. Someone very creative wrote it, though.

SPELLING: Now the relationship with your mother, problematic?

Up and down?

SPELLING: Complicated.

KING: And I know your mom pretty well. And your mom is a -- was a tough lady.

She liked to control the scene, right?

Wouldn't you say that?

I mean she knew what she wanted.

SPELLING: Yes.

KING: What led to anything that dealt with the two of you growing apart?

SPELLING: That's a difficult question to answer, because growing up, my mom and I had a very loving relationship, but we were never extremely close. So it wasn't like any one thing kind of distanced our relationship. We've had our ups and downs pretty much my entire life.

KING: How about Candy and Aaron?

SPELLING: They had a seemingly good relationship, especially from what I saw.

KING: So you didn't see fights or...

SPELLING: No. I don't think I've ever -- I ever saw my parents fight.

KING: But Candy was certainly a major figure -- she was not the doting housewife?

SPELLING: Umm...

KING: Well, maybe I'm wrong.

SPELLING: She was. She was in her own way, you know. She had a very extreme lifestyle that my dad gave her. But in her own way, I mean my mother would love to bake on weekends for us. You know, she would make my dad dinner. She did a lot of those things. So that would be unfair to say that she wasn't a doting housewife.

And she definitely was always very supportive of my father.

KING: We'll be right back with Tori Spelling.

The book is "sTORI Telling".

Don't go away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, EXCEPT FROM "STORI TELLING" BY TORI SPELLING)

SPELLING: Sometime after the crazy grief-laden anger-filled mess that played out in the tabloids, my mother sent me an e-mail. It was a really nice e-mail saying that she knew I was pregnant and I was going through one of the most special moments in my life right now. And said she would always love me.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, EXCEPT FROM "STORI TELLING" BY TORI SPELLING)

SPELLING: Little by little, Donna became a bigger part of the show. The press could say whatever they wanted about how my father got me the part. I knew that Donna's character grew because I worked on her. The truth about my father was that he was perfectly content with me having a token role with two lines an episode.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: We're back with Tori Spelling.

You write: "In the course of 10 years of "90210" being on the air, everyone in the cast pretty much slept with everyone."

But the only one you write about dealing with yourself is you and Brian Austin Green.

Was that a love relationship?

SPELLING: We were young. I don't know. I don't know if I'd call it love.

KING: Do you see him, talk to him?

SPELLING: I have not. He's actually the only cast member I have not seen since the last day we stopped filming "90210".

KING: You know, there has to be a lot of stuff in 10 years.

SPELLING: Ohm, yes. And everyone started so young. And they were with each other. I mean we spent more time with each other than we did our own families and friends, so you can't expect, you know, perfect harmony.

KING: That cast stuck together, too, didn't it?

SPELLING: Oh, yes.

KING: Yes.

You start and in executive produced the VH1 comedy series "So Notorious," loosely based on your own life.

Lonnie Anderson played your mom Kiki.

Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "SO NOTORIOUS," COURTESY VH1)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, how charming. Oh, my goodness. Hello.

Wow!

Isn't this adorable?

It's very quaint. It's just adorable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to Greater Page Temple.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why, thank you so much.

Would you make sure that we get good seats?

I am so sorry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: She's very good in that, Lonnie.

SPELLING: Amazing.

KING: A lot of people thought she was based on Candy.

Was she?

SPELLING: No. There were stories that were loosely based on my family, but there were stories that were based on some of the other writers' parents and some we just made up.

KING: Was that your own -- did you produce that series?

SPELLING: Yes, I created and produced it.

KING: All right.

Are you, therefore, following in dad's footsteps?

SPELLING: Yes.

KING: You want to produce?

SPELLING: Yes, I do.

KING: So you wouldn't mind very much if you weren't on screen at all?

SPELLING: I don't want to say that completely. I love being in front of the camera. I love doing comedy. But I truly do believe that I inherited from my dad the ability to produce and entertain people. So I'd like to do more of that.

KING: So you like hiring directors and?

SPELLING: I like the whole process. I like the creation.

KING: Picking locations?

SPELLING: Yes.

KING: I mean that's extraordinary in a young girl, right?

But that's what you want, yes?

SPELLING: Thank you. You called me young.

KING: Yes. Of course you are.

(LAUGHTER)

KING: Any regrets about the Kiki character?

SPELLING: No. No. I thought it -- it was in good fun. You know, the person I made fun of most in that show was myself. So if anyone can see, you know, can't see past that and see that I made fun of other people, then that's unfortunate and they missed the point of the show.

KING: This part of the story really is incredible. Your father was worth an estimated half billion. Some said...

SPELLING: That's what I read.

KING: Some think a billion. He made a lot -- a lot of shows.

And how much did you inherit?

SPELLING: Less than a million.

KING: Less than a million. SPELLING: Yes.

KING: And your brother, too?

SPELLING: Yes.

KING: Why?

SPELLING: I don't know. But it definitely wasn't unexpected. My dad and I had talked about it. It was, you know, publicized that I was "disinherited," that I was shocked at what I received. I wasn't. I think internally I was surprised, but I had been told so I couldn't be that surprised. KING: Your father told you that's what you were going to get?

SPELLING: Yes.

KING: Did he tell you why?

SPELLING: I didn't ask when, because when we did have the conversation, it was a very hard conversation to have. I didn't want him in any way to think that I was asking for money. And it was a grim topic to talk about. And when he said what I was getting, he said it with so much love and so genuinely happy that he was going to give me this money that I couldn't be mad. I couldn't ask why. I couldn't ask for more. I just...

KING: No, but did you...

SPELLING: ...not in my head "90210").

KING: Your mother got it all then?

SPELLING: I don't know.

KING: Wasn't the will read?

SPELLING: No, it was not.

KING: Just the lawyer called and told you what you had?

SPELLING: Yes.

KING: Didn't you say to yourself he loves me, he's extraordinarily generous...

SPELLING: Yes, he was -- with everyone.

KING: ...why am I getting this?

Doesn't it puzzle you to this day?

SPELLING: I do think about it sometimes. I'd be lying if I said I didn't. But I can't get past all the wonderful years we had together, all the love he gave me. At the end of the day, it is what it is. It's not going to make me love my dad any less or think of him differently.

KING: When he told you and he made it seem generous...

SPELLING: Yes.

KING: ...did he explain any -- you know, sometimes rich fathers do this to teach their children to be thrifty and, you know, watch your dollars.

SPELLING: He knew he didn't have to. I mean from the time that I started "90210," I never took a penny again from my parents. They never paid for anything. I paid for all my own bills. I did everything on my own. So it -- at that point, it wasn't about teaching me anything. He knew that I was a hard worker and I made my own money.

No -- and he said to me, he said I found out from the business manager what you're getting and you're going to be well taken care of, don't worry. This is what you're getting. And he believed it. I truly believe he believed it when he said it, in some odd way.

KING: Did your mother ever discuss it with you?

SPELLING: No.

KING: Tori Spelling is our guest. The book is -- the new book is "sTORI Telling".

When we come back, Tori's husband Dean McDermott will join us.

There's another story.

Don't go away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM TORI & DEAN INN LOVE, COURTESY OXYGEN)

DEAN MCDERMOTT: OK.

Like (INAUDIBLE).

SPELLING: Hello?

Anyone home?

We can have this place up and running before the baby comes. So that gives us two months to get in here, get settled, renovate and open the doors to our guests. Yikes.

I'm baking the cupcakes.

MCDERMOTT: No, I know. I know...

SPELLING: I want to be the signature cupcake of the bread and breakfast.

MCDERMOTT: Welcome to Tori and Dean's bed and breakfast.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPELLING: It was my second time walking down the aisle, but it was a completely new experience. The first time, my nose was running. My dad was standing on my train. And I had my best bride's face on. This time I was looking straight ahead, thinking, I love this man so much.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KING: We're back with Tori Spelling, who is probably best known for "Beverly Hills 90210," starred as well in "So Notorious" on VH1 and the Oxygen reality series "Tori and Dean in Love," author of the new memoir, "S-Tori telling."

Joining us now in Los Angeles is Dean McDermott, the actor, Tori's husband, and co-star on "Tori and Dean in Love." In the book, Dean, Tori includes her admission that you and she slept together the first night you met.

DEAN MCDERMOTT, ACTOR: You did?

KING: Forgot already. First, did you have any veto power? Did you ever suggest why put that in?

MCDERMOTT: No. This was Tori's truth. It was her book and, you know, it needed to be in there. It was part of the truth and part of the reality of the whole situation. So in it went.

SPELLING: It's our journey.

KING: Do you like that she wrote a very open book?

MCDERMOTT: Yes, I do. I do. For so many years, as you've been talking about, there was so many misconceptions about Tori. So I just love that she completely opened herself up and put it down on paper and is putting it out to the world.

KING: How strong was that attraction to get together like that on the first night, Tori?

SPELLING: Instantaneous.

MCDERMOTT: Pretty powerful. Nothing like I've ever felt before.

KING: Were you both in a somehow -- how did you meet?

SPELLING: We were filming a TV movie in Canada together.

MCDERMOTT: After my wardrobe session, one of the ADs asked if I wanted to meet Tori, and I was like, sure. So we went to the director's office and there she was. And as soon as our eyes met, it was instantaneous.

KING: And you both were married? You have children?

MCDERMOTT: Yes.

KING: You had children.

MCDERMOTT: Yes.

KING: So what did you do after? Did you say, what do we do now? What do you do with this?

MCDERMOTT: Yes, it was really interesting because we came together, fell in love. And when you're on location doing a film, you're in your own little world. So everything going on outside of us really didn't exist. And then it started creeping in and we did. We'd sit down and have those talks like, what are we going to do? This is incredibly complicated.

KING: What did you do?

SPELLING: We --

MCDERMOTT: We --

KING: Called home?

SPELLING: We both came home. We dealt with our now-exes. We're together ever since.

KING: Did you just go tell your wife?

MCDERMOTT: We wanted to go about this gradually. We sort of had a one-year game plan kind of thing and I just -- I couldn't do it. I couldn't lie anymore. I couldn't -- I just had to come out and just say, I'm -- I've fallen in love.

KING: You too?

SPELLING: Yes.

KING: Did it turn out to be very bad?

SPELLING: Not bad. It -- hurtful. Hurtful. There were a lot of people hurt. And, of course, if we had to do it all over again, we wouldn't change a thing, except take that hurt out that it caused people. We didn't want anyone to get hurt, but we also -- I'd found my soul mate. How could I deny that.

KING: How old was your child at the time?

MCDERMOTT: He was seven.

KING: How did he take it?

MCDERMOTT: Really hard. We were incredibly close and we still are. We did everything together. That was the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life. With divorce, there's always collateral damage. And if there's one thing that I could change, that would be it, the hurt that I imposed upon my son.

KING: How does a seven-year-old deal with Tori?

MCDERMOTT: When they first met, a chip off the bloc, he fell in love with Tori.

KING: He wasn't angry?

MCDERMOTT: No.

SPELLING: He was amazing.

MCDERMOTT: They have a great relationship.

SPELLING: We hit it off right away. Everybody has an opinion. You're going to be a step-mother. You're going to have a step-child. Take this advice, this and that. So you go into it kind of nervous. And we met and we were friends right off the bat.

KING: Normally he might say, you hurt my mom. Extraordinary.

SPELLING: We have a pretty open relationship. We talk constantly about anything that might still be bothering him about the divorce. We try to encourage that.

KING: And now the two of you have a child together.

SPELLING: Yes.

KING: And another one coming?

SPELLING: Yes.

MCDERMOTT: We've been busy.

KING: Do you want a lot of kids?

MCDERMOTT: We talked about -- I love hockey.

KING: Me too.

MCDERMOTT: I love hockey, so I wanted to have a hockey team so we could play three on three and a goalie, so I wanted --

KING: So three on three, so allowing for penalties?

MCDERMOTT: So I wanted to have eight children for our own little hockey team.

SPELLING: And then we got pregnant with the first one and I said, let's get through this one first.

KING: When's the next one due?

SPELLING: Early summer.

KING: Do you know what it will be yet?

SPELLING: No, we don't know yet.

KING: We'll be right back with Tori and Dean. We'll talk about their TV work and lots of other things. Don't go away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPELLING: It didn't seem like I'd been in surgery long when the doctor said, here he comes. Then I heard Liam's first cry. It took my breath away. I was so overwhelmed with love. Dean said, oh, my god, he's gorgeous. I looked down at my baby and said, oh, he is. And thank god he has a good nose.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MCDERMOTT: OK, baby, do you know what time it is?

SPELLING: What?

MCDERMOTT: It's slip and slide time.

SPELLING: Hell, no.

MCDERMOTT: I'm going to hit the slip and slide.

SPELLING: Fine, I'll do it. On the count of three.

MCDERMOTT: One, two, three.

SPELLING: I didn't make it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: We're back with Tori Spelling. Her book is "S-Tori Telling" and her husband, Dean McDermott, is with us. I understand that you arranged a meeting between Tori and your ex-wife?

MCDERMOTT: Yes.

KING: Where did that take place?

MCDERMOTT: That took place in California. They were living in --

KING: In a house?

MCDERMOTT: In my ex-wife's house.

KING: Nervous going there?

SPELLING: Just a little bit.

MCDERMOTT: I thought it would be a good idea to get together and sit down and talk about my son and how defining roles, you know, mom, step-mom, and how we could all work together. And it's a difficult situation for the other woman to walk into and she did it. And I was amazed. She's such a strong woman.

KING: Is your wife remarried?

MCDERMOTT: No.

KING: Is your husband remarried?

SPELLING: No.

KING: Do you ever keep in touch with him?

SPELLING: I don't.

KING: Did you meet him?

MCDERMOTT: I met him once in Ottawa.

KING: Was that rough?

MCDERMOTT: It was before we were together, so it was pretty easy.

KING: You worked together as actors, then you joined forces for the reality series "Tori and Dean in Love." Here's a look at that series, then we'll talk about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCDERMOTT: We're going to find out what this kid is?

SPELLING: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A boy.

SPELLING: Are you kidding?

MCDERMOTT: Oh, my god.

SPELLING: We thought for sure it was a girl.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That would be an out odd-looking girl.

SPELLING: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are welcome.

SPELLING: We better think of boy names. I love you, baby.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Who came up with this show?

SPELLING: We did, together.

KING: And this follows your life together? Is that --

SPELLING: Yes, it does.

MCDERMOTT: It was based on -- we did a second movie in Ottawa, which was where we met. So we did a second movie out in the country and we stayed at -- where Liam was conceived. So we got the crazy notion to open a bed and breakfast and make it modern and run it.

KING: For real? MCDERMOTT: For real. So we thought, why not do a show around it? So we pitched that idea and Oxygen loved it and away we went.

KING: Where is the bed and breakfast?

SPELLING: It's in Albrook (ph), California, about 20 minutes north of San Diego.

KING: How do you like running it?

MCDERMOTT: It's a lot of work. It was definitely one of those things that looked great on paper and then you put it into -- you start to execute and --

KING: Somebody checked in.

SPELLING: Exactly. A lot of people checked in.

KING: How many rooms?

SPELLING: Four.

MCDERMOTT: And that's small for bed and breakfast.

KING: Four's a lot of work.

SPELLING: Four's a lot of work.

MCDERMOTT: We were meeting other bed and breakfast owners that had like 15, 20 rooms. And we're like, we have four and --

SPELLING: We had a newborn.

KING: You're doing this. Are you both going to take other roles? Of course, you have to give birth first. But do you want to act and produce other things?

SPELLING: Definitely, we want to continue producing things together.

KING: You want to produce too?

MCDERMOTT: Absolutely, yes.

KING: Plus, you just finished a movie?

MCDERMOTT: Yes, I just finished a movie, "Saving God." That's one thing -- we produced the last movie we were in together as well. So we want to keep going, keep acting, keep producing.

KING: Did you meet Aaron?

MCDERMOTT: I had the privilege of meeting him once.

KING: What was that like? MCDERMOTT: It was great. It was, obviously, under difficult circumstances, because he wasn't obviously feeling well, but from that three-hour meeting, I could see the man he was. Incredibly charismatic, charming, and loved his daughter like you couldn't believe. I could just hear it in his voice.

As soon as Tori walked in the room, his eyes just lit up. It was very special.

KING: How did you react to her inheritance?

MCDERMOTT: You know, I had no reaction. I knew what was -- what she was going to get. In fact, when we met and our relationship was growing stronger, we even had the talk. She's like, you know, I'm not getting a huge inheritance. This is what I'm getting.

MCDERMOTT: I'm like, OK, thank you for telling me, but I really don't care because I love you. It wasn't a surprise.

KING: You put your baby on camera, right?

SPELLING: Yes.

KING: Supposing this series remains a hit forever, you going to let Liam grow up on camera?

SPELLING: Oh, yes. Season 20, Liam gets hitched.

KING: You don't feel any problem with making him visible?

SPELLING: We talk a lot about it and we don't, in the context of our show, because we can control that. That's our safe environment. The crew's a family to us. And we're not putting him in any harm's way or extreme situations. We do try to keep him kind of covered from the paparazzi, because that's a different beast. But on our show, he's safe.

MCDERMOTT: Considering he's getting exposed anyway at the hands of the paparazzi and the magazines, it's just like, we'll take control of it and we'll expose him the way we want to.

KING: They're refreshing, aren't they? Back with more of Tori and Dean. Don't go away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPELLING: This is it. Ready or not, we are going to throw open the doors and show the world what we have worked so hard for. My feet are killing me. The baby is kicking me like crazy, but nothing is going to stop me from entertaining my guests, and giving them tours of this new and modernized B&B.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: We're back with Tori Spelling. The book is "S-Tori Telling," and her husband, Dean McDermott. Are you going to write another book?

SPELLING: I would love too.

KING: You must like writing.

SPELLING: I loved it.

KING: Are you going the write one? Why don't you write one?

MCDERMOTT: I might. I have a pretty interesting life. I might.

KING: How do you like motherhood?

SPELLING: I love motherhood. Obviously, I loved it, I'm doing it again.

KING: What's the hardest part?

SPELLING: The hardest part? Gosh, I don't know what's the hardest part. I love every -- I stare at him all day long. The hardest part is him growing up so fast. I think that's the hardest part for me. I spent a lot of time saying, oh, he's gotten so big. He's not a newborn anymore. Oh, my gosh, it's almost a year. That's kind of heart breaking, and one day, he's going to be an adult. It makes me sad.

KING: Do you like fatherhood?

MCDERMOTT: I love fatherhood. I think that's the one thing I really do well.

SPELLING: He's so good at it.

KING: Me too. It's the one thing I'm good at.

MCDERMOTT: Yes, unfortunately, I can't make a whole lot of money doing it, so I have to work.

KING: When you met her, you had to have some preconceived notions about Tori Spelling. And even though you were enormously physically attractive, you had to think, who is this girl, Aaron Spelling's daughter, 90210, has got to be spoiled?

MCDERMOTT: I really didn't think anything of it. I had a crush on Tori on the show for years.

KING: You did?

MCDERMOTT: I would always show up late to my hockey games because I was watching the show, and the guys in the dressing room would give me a hard time. I'm like, back off, I have to watch my crush. I had to get my Tori fix. So going into this film and meeting her and working with her for the first time, I never followed the tabloids. I never looked at those magazines/ I didn't know all the preconceived notions of Tori until she started telling me and then I started getting exposed to that world, seeing all the tabloids, all the weeklies, and hearing all the Stories.

I just walked into it blindly and just fell in love.

KING: What did you know about him?

SPELLING: I didn't know anything about him.

KING: Nothing?

SPELLING: Nothing. Actually, it was the first movie that I ever did that I didn't investigate who my leading man was. I would always check out to see who the leading man was. And I got there the first day and I realized I didn't even look him up on the Internet, and they said, do you want to see what he looks like? I looked at a picture of him, first time I ever knew who he was.

KING: How long since you'd fallen in love and gone to bed together the first time -- how well did you work together?

SPELLING: We worked incredibly well together.

KING: You may not work well together.

MCDERMOTT: The chemistry got better. I was playing her love interest and we sizzled. And we've worked together since and I think we still sizzle.

SPELLING: I think so too, babe.

KING: Is Tori spoiled?

MCDERMOTT: No.

KING: With all she's had?

MCDERMOTT: With all she's had -- once I found out about what the world thought of Tori Spelling and I get to know this woman, the most normal person in the world with the biggest heart ever. She's so generous and kind and normal. Considering how she grew up, the privilege that she had --

SPELLING: You think I don't pick up after myself so well. But that's not spoiled, that's just lazy.

MCDERMOTT: That's just lazy. But an incredibly down to earth person.

KING: We'll be back with our remaining moments with this really terrific couple. Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott; don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Tori, you've been a paid spokesperson for Nutrisystems. You learned you were a pregnant with baby number two about a week after you reached your post-Liam goal weight. Was it a shock? SPELLING: Yes. It was completely unplanned. That's the way life works. I worked really hard, got down to my goal weight, really happy with how I looked and I was pregnant. Here I go again.

KING: I can't picture you overweight.

SPELLING: I lost 36 pounds on Nutrisystems. I was overweight. It was baby weight.

MCDERMOTT: You would never know it.

SPELLING: You're being kind.

MCDERMOTT: You looked amazing.

SPELLING: Look at the before and after pictures.

KING: So all those meal packages coming every week, it worked?

SPELLING: It worked really well. It really does. I'm a true believer. When people stop me and ask, I speak passionately. They pass by me and they ask about Nutrisystems and I could stand there and go, please stop talking about it. I'm standing there, going on and on, telling them which meal's the best. You've got to have this. You've got to have that.

It's something I'm really passion about it, because I actually got results. I feel like so many times you don't feel results on these things.

KING: How do you get along with your mother-in-law?

MCDERMOTT: We get along great. We got along great from the jump. Obviously our schedules are really busy. I would love to spend more time with her, but she's really funny.

SPELLING: She likes him a lot.

KING: How is she as a grandmother?

SPELLING: She's a good grandmother.

KING: Doting?

SPELLING: She is, she is. That's the thing I always say. We have a complicated relationship that is filled with love. I don't know what the future holds, but I do know that we have one thing that bonds us, and that's Liam and that's all I can ask for.

KING: How's your relationship with your brother?

SPELLING: It's OK. It's OK. It could be better.

KING: What does he do?

SPELLING: What does he do? He's an actor. KING: Why Liam?

MCDERMOTT: Why Liam. I always loved the name. I always loved the name.

KING: Liam Neeson.

MCDERMOTT: Yes, I love Liam Neeson, Irish-Scottish. So when I suggested it, she was like, yes, I love it.

SPELLING: We were sure we were going to have a girl, and then we found out it was a boy, in that scene, I was like, we don't know boy names. He said, I always liked Liam. That's it. That was it.

KING: You should be very proud of this book. It's very candid, very open. You did a hell of a job. Thank you.

SPELLING: Thank you very much.

KING: Great meeting you.

MCDERMOTT: Great meeting you, Larry. Thank you.

KING: "S-Tori Telling" by Tori Spelling. Check out CNN's show page, CNN.com/LarryKing. You can email upcoming guests, send us an I ask question or download our latest podcast. We're online 24/7 at CNN.com/LarryKing. We'll see you next time.

Anderson Cooper, "AC 360," starts right now. Anderson?

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