\u201cWhen mom goes down, the ship goes down,\u201d Spelling, 52, told longtime friend and manager Ruthanne Secunda<\/a> and producer Amy Sugarman<\/a> while returning to her podcast MisSPELLING<\/a> after an eight-week absence. The Beverly Hills, 90210<\/a> alum explained that \u201cin my financial world\u201d she doesn\u2019t have the means to hire outside help, admitting, \u201cI don\u2019t think anyone believes that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt has been hell,\u201d Spelling said, explaining that \u201cI have had a past of getting sick a lot and frequently, but this one took me down, eight weeks I couldn’t work. And it all started with my sinuses. I mean, it started with the five petri dishes that live in my house, but they bring things home, but that’s normal.\u201d<\/p>\n Spelling was referring to Liam, 18, Stella, 17, Hattie, 14, Finn, 13, and Beau, 8, the five children<\/a> she shares with ex Dean McDermott<\/a>.<\/p>\n Tori Spelling\/Instagram<\/p>\n \u201cI now know the name of every, you know, virus and bacterial thing out there. There’s enterovirus, there is, rhinovirus, there is COVID,\u201d she said, adding that she also had RSV.<\/p>\n She shares that she was sidelined with \u201cthe worst flu-like symptoms you can imagine,\u201d saying \u201cit took me out. I was flat on my back\u201d with an inner ear infection and vertigo, needing several rounds of antibiotics. The only thing that helped, she shared, was an antibiotic-infused nasal rinse.<\/p>\n The part of being sick that was \u201cheartbreaking,\u201d she says, is how it impacted her kids. \u201cAfter separation and going through the divorce<\/a>, I was like, \u2018I can’t cook\u2019 and I didn’t cook for two years. I mean, it was all ordering in or going out. And then I got really back into it and the kids were thriving. They were helping with it,\u201d she said. But while she was sick, \u201cI couldn’t cook. So we had to go back to ordering in again.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Tori](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/df89860724e5c52a0c3d4f5adfaa98ae.jpeg\"\/)
Tori Spelling poses with her five children. <\/p>\n