Tori Spelling was relieved when Dean McDermott announced their marriage split on Instagram.
Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott split last year
The former couple's relationship had been subjected to months of scrutiny when the 57-year-old star made a surprise statement to confirm they had decided to go their "separate ways" and "start a new journey" apart, and while he later "apologised" to the 'Beverly Hills, 90210' actress and removed the post, she admitted she was secretly pleased with it.
Speaking on her 'misSPELLING' podcast, she said: “He was reacting emotionally, and he was still drinking and, you know, he was in that spiral.
“But I gotta say, when I saw that post — inside, I was like, ‘Oh, thank god.’
“Because... I don't know if I could have done it. I want to do it. I want it to be strong enough."
Tori - who eventually filed for divorce from Dean in March, listing their official separation date as 17 June, 2023, the same day the 'Chopped Canada' star had made his statement - previously admitted she felt as if a "giant rock had been lifted" from her chest when her estranged spouse declared they had split.
She said on her podcast in April: "I looked at [his post] and I'm not kidding you guys, I felt like this giant rock had been lifted off my chest.
"I could breathe deeply, and I was like, ‘Oh my God. He said it. He said it, so now I'm free.'"
The actress accused Dean - the father of her children Liam, 17, Stella, 16, Hattie, 12, Finn, 11, and seven-year-old Beau - of having threatened divorce a "million times" before then.
She said: "I don't think I've ever threatened that, like, ever. And there were times where I desperately wanted it.
"But, like, I would never throw that in someone's face if I didn't actually mean it.
"I didn't have the balls to leave. I couldn't do it and he did it. [I thought] 'Now I can move on. He's put it out there. Let's go. Yes! I needed this,' you know? Like, I couldn't do it myself."
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