1 July 2023

Mary Jo Eustace “wouldn’t wish” being a single parent in the public eye on anybody.

Mary Jo Eustace reveals the struggles of being a single parent in the public eye

The 61-year-old TV host is mother to Jack, 24, from her previous marriage to reality star Dean McDermott – who now has Liam, 16, Stella, 15, Hattie, 11, Finn, 10, and six-year-old Beau with ‘90210’ actress Tori Spelling – and “feels bad” for any child whose parent is single but famous because of how “disorientating” it can be.

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She told People: “I would not wish that on anybody, quite frankly. Because the divide between what’s actually happening and what’s presented is great. And the soundbites and innuendos and everything [have] very little to do with the reality of what’s going on. It’s been disorienting the whole time because you have your life and then you have how it’s perceived in the media and there’s a big, huge difference between what is actual and what is not. So, I feel bad for any kid or family who has that extra dimension. It’s very challenging.”

The former ‘What’s for Dinner?’ star – who split from Dean in 2006 and went on to adopt now-18-year-old daughter Lola – went on to add that whilst her former husband put his own children in front of the camera as he fronted a slew of reality shows with Tori, she wanted to raise her own children out of the public eye and alleged that Dean left her to bring their kids up “mostly” on her own.

She said: “It wasn’t part of my life with them. Let’s put it that way. They’re not characters in a movie. They’re real people. So, I don’t want them perceived in any way that they’re not. There wasn’t a lot of co-parenting. I did most of it on my own.”