Dean McDermott On Tabloid Rumors, Babies and His New Show with Tori

Doing a phone interview with Dean McDermott, of Tori and Dean fame, is a lot like being on an episode of their reality show, 'Home Sweet Hollywood.' In fact, I was put on speakerphone for the cameras, so our little chat might just pop up on an episode next season.

You can believe whatever you want in the gossip magazines ("Their loveless marriage!" "He's using her for money and fame!"), but when I spoke to the husband and father of three -- whose movies of the week and race car driving hobby keep him busy -- he was actually out running errands with his wife Tori Spelling. "Tori wanted to antiquing, so who am I to turn her down?," McDermott laughed. "She loves to go antique shopping."

Taking a break from the spree, McDermott talked to AOL TV about his latest project, 'Always & Forever' (premieres Sat., Oct. 24, 9PM ET on Hallmark Channel), his words of wisdom for raising kids in Hollywood and scoop about their new TV show in the works. Then, he tackled the tabloids ...

Antiquing, huh? Do your friends give you a hard time when you tell them things like that?
Oddly enough, no. You'd think I would, but my friends see how in love we are, and that we do everything together and are inseparable, and they haven't said one word about it. I just adore T so much -- it sounds corny, but we're soul mates. We go bonkers if we're apart for half an hour.

Does it bother you that tabloids have a tendency to report otherwise?
It affects me, yes -- I mean, we're only human -- but the think that really bothers me about that is I have an 11-year-old son, and his friends' parents will read that stuff, and then it'll get back to their kids, and then they'll bring it to the schoolyard. It's unfair to him -- he didn't ask to be brought into that nastiness. He is in the public eye because of who his dad is, and his stepmom, but the nasty mudslinging part of it ... it's really hurtful.

You're raising your children, Liam and Stella, in L.A. -- does it ever make you guys want to escape from Hollywood?
Yes, to be perfectly honest, it does. It is hurtful and it's hurtful to our kids. There are times when you're just like, "This is so bad. Life used to be so simple ... people didn't write nasty things about me, and now they do." But we love what we do. I love being an actor, I love doing the show with Tori -- you've gotta take the good with the bad. It's part of the business and you get used to it. Hopefully by the time Liam and Stella are old enough to pick these magazines up, they'll be well-versed enough to know how the whole thing works.

They're gonna be pros by the time they're 6 years old! You can already tell by the way Liam works it for the camera ...
Exactly! Now Stella is, too -- she strikes a pose and she squeals and gets excited when she sees the paparazzi. And now Liam is like, "No! Don't take my picture!" [Laughs] So he's going the other way.

For 'Always & Forever,' you got to work with Rena Sofer, among others -- how was that?
I love it -- she's this strikingly beautiful woman and she has this sense of humor. [Laughs] She creeps up the truck driver sense of humor. She can hang with the boys! It was great to work with her, and it was great to work with and meet Barbara Eden and Max Gail. It's a really sweet love story -- two high school sweethearts reunite after running into each other at the reunion, realizing that they never lost what they had for each other. It's a real sweet, nice, uplifting piece, and that's what really drew me to it. With everything going on in the world, it's just a nice, simple love story and has a great message.

Do you see any similarities between that story and yours with Tori?
My character and Rena's character rediscovered each other, and that they're still in love with each other and have this connection and this bond, and realize that they're each other's true love, which is what happened when Tori and I met. It was love at first sight. And now look at us -- we're complete soul mates. So there are similarities.

What's next for you guys?
We're doing season 5 of the show, so we will be up to the same 'Tori & Dean' wackiness, with, I'm sure, a couple of fabulous birthday parties in there. [Laughs] And the 2010 race season starts, so I will be racing again -- I got my race license. We've got a couple of movies of the week in the works, and hopefully we'll be doing another show with Oxygen.

Click here to hear all about Tori & Dean's new show
and Dean firing back at the tabloids.

Does it freak you out to think that your kids could grow up and want to be actors?
Well, I wouldn't be surprised if either one of them wanted to get into the business, because they're both hams. I believe in encouraging your children in whatever they show interest in. The acting business is a really tough one -- I wouldn't discourage them, but I would really get them to be educated about it and encourage them. It's all you really can do.

You make it very clear that you always want to have sex and have more babies. So, are there more kids in your near future?
Oh, I think so -- absolutely. We make beautiful babies, and we definitely want more. I have a super-gorgeous hot wife that I can't keep my hands off ... that's a deadly combination, so there will be more children. [Laughs]

Like 'Jon & Kate' more children?
I don't know about that -- that's a lot! I think three or four would be good ... everybody can get equal attention. I think at some point, if you have too many kids, they get lost along the way. It's unfortunate that things have gone the way they have for those two. A lot of people are speculating that it's that having a reality crew follow your children around is harmful to them and unfair. If I could say anything to that, that's not the case. We have a great crew that have become family to us -- we've had the same crew since season 1. The cameramen are like uncles to the kids. It's not harmful, in my opinion.