Dean McDermott details addiction battle, reveals he became a drug and alcohol counselor after getting sober

Dean McDermott gets candid about his “horrible” addiction battle and life after living in a sober facility during an exclusive interview with Page Six.

Detailing his journey, the actor tells us, “I am clean and sober … I got to a place where I finally surrendered and admitted that I needed help.”

“The way I was running my life, the way I was running the show was not right,” he continues. “Not, good for anybody — myself, my family and Tori [Spelling]. It was a horrible way to live. So I finally surrendered and asked for help, and I got it.”

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McDermott, 57, explains that he “went into treatment and put [his] life back together,” adding he owes his life and newfound way of living to Harmony Place Treatment Center in Woodland Hills, Calif., 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 says.

Once inside treatment, the “Due South” star claims he made a deal with himself to be in “100 percent” or not at all.

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Explaining his thought process, he says, “Coming in at 55 years old — it’s just not a good look. I had to get this right.”

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From there, McDermott found himself in a six days a week treatment program consisting of four groups a day.

There was one group in particular that he credits to changing his life — breathwork, which he admits to having been more hesitant toward at first.

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“I was like, OK, I don’t know what that is,” the father of six says. “It sounds a little artsy fartsy. But I made a deal, I’m all in, so I’ll give it a try.”

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

McDermott further says his life has been “amazing” since getting sober, explaining how his journey with recovery and breathwork has even iNFLuenced him to switch up his career and open the Conscious Community Global.

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“I work in recovery today because of my experience, in treatment and sober living,” the “Open Range” actor tells us. “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.”

Aside from being a certified breathwork specialist, McDermott operates process groups with addicts and alcoholics alongside 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 continues, adding his experience as a recovering addict will help him reach those with similar experiences.

“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,” he says. “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.”

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McDermott refers to alcohol as a “horrible drug,” and urges alcoholics to be “brave” enough to seek treatment and to know they’re “worth it.”

Aside from continuing his path as an alcohol and drug counselor, he also plans to return to the big screen.

“I’m fortunate I got to discover a gift I have,” he adds. “I have a gift to help people in this capacity as well as my gift for 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.”

As McDermott continues his sobriety venture, he credits his success to a great support system consisting of his new girlfriend, Lily Calo, 32, to whom he was first romantically linked in October 2023.

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Gushing over Calo, he says, “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,” McDermott further says, adding how her support was imperative at the start of his journey when it was “not easy.”

As for his estranged wife, he refers to Spelling, 50, as his “biggest supporter.”

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

McDermott adds the mother of five is “one of the most generous people” he’s ever met, detailing how she is “caring, empathetic” and “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 continues.

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McDermott admits that co-parenting with Spelling was “a little rough at first” after the former couple revealed they were separating in June 2023 — but he “wouldn’t change it for the world.”

The exes put on a united front to celebrate one of their kids’ birthdays at Dave & Buster’s in Los Angeles on March 6.

Exclusive pictures obtained by Page Six saw the “Beverly Hills, https://cdn.thefoxposts.com/images/2024/03/14/273d22e5https://cdn.thefoxposts.com/images/2024/03/14/273d22e522754b99d73a974723b1ca15.webp54b99d73a974723b1ca15.webp210” alum greet McDermott and Calo with a kiss on the cheek.

McDermott and Spelling share kids Liam, 16, Stella, 15, Hattie, 12, Finn, 11, and Beau, 7. He also shares a son — Jack Montgomery McDermott, 25 — with ex-wife Mary Jo Eustace.