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Spelling tries to stay in spotlight

The track record for celebrity couples who do reality shows is dismal. See Jessica Simpson/Nick Lachey (“The Newlyweds”), Britney Spears/K-Fed (“Chaotic”) and Travis Barker/Shanna Moakler (“Meet the Barkers”). All have since divorced.

But that hasn’t stopped a recently married Tori Spelling and her actor Dean McDermott from trying their hand at an upcoming reality show for Oxygen. The gimmick? They run their very own bed and breakfast inn in southern California, gambling her $800,000 inheritance from her late father and legendary TV producer Aaron Spelling. Thus the pun-inflected name: “Tori and Dean: Inn Love.”

Spelling, the former “Beverly Hills 90210” star who appeared in a frothy white dress seven months pregnant with her first child, told the media at TCA she knew about reality show jinx but didn’t break the news to her husband.

“I had no idea,” McDermott said. “We’re going to be the exception, not the rule, and prove everyone wrong.”

The pair had met in Ottawa shooting a film and stayed at a bed and breakfast, instead of the usual four-star hotel because it was closer to the set. Spelling had never been to one. “I had some trepidations because my makeup artist at the time said, ‘Oh, B&Bs are just creepy and they’re old [with] people’s used things.”

And indeed, that’s what they saw. She described the inn as “old and musty” with things like “decrepit teddy bears with eyes hanging out.”

“Smelled a bit like pee,” McDermott added.

But Spelling said they came away wanting to “reinvent” the B&B for a new generation with chic designs and happy hours. If the first one is successful, McDermott even envisions opening multiple inns.

The cameras will capture the couple cleaning, cooking and entertaining guests.

Spelling does draw the line: “I don’t clean toilets.”

And she didn’t recoil at the comparison to MTV’s “Newlyweds,” which elevated Simpson to a pop culture figure with her ditzy comments, including her now-famous inability to identify the meat in Chicken of the Sea.

“We are still newlyweds,” Spelling said, “but we have a baby on the way and we’re juggling our careers in the new business so it’s kind of ‘Newlyweds: Part Deux.’ “

And, she noted, “I know what tuna is.”

Permalink | Comments (4) |

Comments

Commenting is now closed for this entry.

By whocares?

January 11, 2007 1:13 PM | Link to this

Wow lots of interest in this blog!

Why does the AJC continue to pander to ‘celebrities’like Tori Spelling?

I predict that as of 5pm there will be no more than 20 posts on this blog.

Report REAL news AJC.

By Aaron Spelling

January 11, 2007 2:26 PM | Link to this

And once again, I roll over in my grave.

By Yikes!

January 11, 2007 3:53 PM | Link to this

I have to agree with Aaron… who, by the way, has never looked better. Or at least he looks the same, it’s really hard to tell.

By markscottmusic.com

January 11, 2007 4:24 PM | Link to this

Ummm… who the heck are Travis Barker and Shanna Moaklar? I know I could probably answer that question myself by searching AJC archives or Google’ing them… but the point is…can just about anyone have a reality show now? I want one. Who should I call to follow me around at my marketing day job and my weekend gigs playing country music… hey… that actually does sound like a cool show…

 

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