This article was one of Herald Entertainment’s best-read stories of 2023

Tori Spelling has gone from living the multi-million-dollar life of a Hollywood star, bolstered by the genius of her late father, Aaron Spelling, to struggling to find a permanent home for herself and her five children.

According to Page Six, Spelling, once a favourite on her dad’s ‘90s hit show Beverly Hills 90210, has been living in cheap motels and a trailer park amid claims she and her estranged husband, Dean McDermott, are completely strapped for cash.

A source has claimed the family find themselves broke because of out-of-control spending habits, including staying in expensive rented homes and the mother-of-five’s penchant for shopping, said to be similar to her mother Candy Spelling’s, who is known for buying up vast collections of dolls and Beanie Babies.

“Their household bills run 100 grand a month,” claims the source. “There’s no end to the spending. In 2016, she had a room stacked to the ceiling with boxes she didn’t even open.”

(Left to right): Stella Spelling, Tori Spelling, Beau Spelling, Dean McDermott, Finn Spelling and Hattie Spelling. Photo / Getty Images

“There were clothes stuffed into the bathroom with price tags still on them. Besides her shopping, there’s pet care, hospital stays, private schools, you name it. The house was a pit filled with animals like pigs, snakes and ferrets. It’s white trash central.”

It’s been speculated that the now 50-year-old’s mother, Candy Spelling, has tried to find a home for her daughter, but so far she’s turned them all down.

Instead, Spelling’s current living situation is about as far a cry as anyone might imagine reflecting on the home she grew up in: a 123-room $US150 million (NZ$246m) mansion in Holmby Hills, California.

However, the source has also claimed that all may not be as it seems when it comes to Spelling’s present set-up.

They said Spelling “needs storylines” so concocts drama in the hopes of landing another reality TV deal.

And, according to the Page Six insider, it’s not the first time she’s done it.

They believe that Spelling made up the 2013 storyline that her then-husband was having an affair with a 28-year-old woman named Emily Goodhand. Claims the story had been made up were widely publicised at the time, and Spelling and McDermott used an episode of their show, Tori & Dean: Cabin Fever, to argue that Goodhand did exist, although they never presented any photographic evidence of her.

“Everything you see is staged by her,” the source said. “She doesn’t exist. They did it for publicity. The two of them fool the media all the time. They construct every story.”

“Everything is a lie. There’s no reality to any of it. Tori thinks the poor little rich girl narrative is a good storyline. She thinks she is as talented and inventive as her father.”

Tori Spelling with her parents, Aaron and Candy Spelling. Photo / Getty Images

When Spelling’s father died in 2006, it is alleged he left his two children, Spelling and her younger brother, Randy, $US800,000 (NZ$1.3m) each.

However, the majority of the Melrose Place creator’s $US600m (NZ $983m) fortune was left to his wife.

What ensued were years of public feuding between his daughter and his wife as the pair went head-to-head, slamming each other in their memoirs.

Most recently, a close friend of Spelling’s mother, Nikki Haskell, allegedly told Page Six that mother and daughter are “a work in progress”.

“I like Tori,” Haskell said. “I think she’s adorable. At the same time, I know she can be difficult. She can be a poor little rich girl.”

“Candy has been very concerned about her, but at the same time, she told me that things are smoothing out. The lines of communication between them have been up and down, but I’m told things are getting better.”