Mary Josephine Eustace (born May 1, 1962) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

actress, singer-songwriter, comedian, model, author, and

sous-chef A sous-chef is a chef who is second in command of a kitchen, ranking directly below the head chef in the Kitchen Brigade system developed by Auguste Escoffier. In large kitchens, sous-chefs are typically left in charge of managing members of th ...

best known as co-host of the Canadian cooking TV series '' What's for Dinner?''.

Early life

Eustace was born and raised in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Ontario. She attended

Jarvis Collegiate Institute Jarvis Collegiate Institute is a high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is named after Jarvis Street where it is located. It is a part of the Toronto District School Board (TDSB). Prior to 1998, it was within the Toronto Board of Education ...

and

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

, where she studied English. She later graduated from

George Brown College The George Brown College of Applied Arts and Technology is a public, fully accredited college (Canada), college of applied arts and technology with three campuses in downtown Toronto (Ontario, Canada). Like many other colleges in Ontario, George ...

's culinary program.

Career

In 1994, Eustace recorded a solo musical album entitled ''Bone & Marrow''. In 1995 Eustace appeared on ''What's for Dinner?'', on

Life Network Slice is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel primarily broadcasts programming targeting young adult women, including comedy, reality, lifestyle, and true crime programming. It was launched on J ...

, co-hosting with Ken Kostick throughout its run during the late 1990s. From 2000 to 2001, Eustace served as a regular on ''

Canada AM ''Canada AM'' is a Canadian morning television news show that aired on CTV from 1972 to 2016. Its final hosts were Beverly Thomson and Marci Ien, with Jeff Hutcheson presenting the weather forecast and sports. The program aired on weekdays, an ...

''. In April 2007, Eustace reunited with Kostick as the original morning hosts of ''What's for Breakfast'' on new

radio station PROUD FM, a station licensed to appeal to the city's

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

community. She stepped down from the show in June 2008 and subsequently co-hosted '' He Said, She Said with Ken and Mary Jo'', a cooking show similar to ''What's for Dinner?'', which debuted in July 2008 on

W Network W Network (often shortened to W) is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel primarily broadcasts general entertainment programming oriented towards a female audience. W Network was ...

. Eustace has also acted, appearing in one episode each of ''

Forever Knight ''Forever Knight'' is a Canadian television series about Nick Knight (Forever Knight), Nick Knight, an 800-year-old vampire working as a police detective in modern-day Toronto, Ontario. Wracked with guilt for centuries of killing others, he seeks ...

'' in 1995, '' The Newsroom'' in 1997 and ''

Power Play "Power play" is a sporting term used to describe a period of play where one team has a numerical advantage in players, usually due to a rule violation by the opposing team. Temporary numerical advantage in players during a team sport In several ...

'' in 2000, as well as the television movie ''What Kind of Mother Are You?'' (1996), the feature film '' That Old Feeling'' (2000) and the

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

''Break Dreams'' (2014). In addition to her book about the break-up of her marriage,

Personal life

Eustace married actor

Dean McDermott Dean McDermott (born November 16, 1966) is a Canadian actor best known as a reality television personality with his former wife, actress Tori Spelling, and as the host of the cooking competition '' Chopped Canada''. He played the role of Constab ...

on July 24, 1993. They moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

for McDermott's acting career. They had one child (born 1998) and were in the process of adopting a baby girl when McDermott began an affair with

Tori Spelling Victoria Davey Spelling (born May 16, 1973) is an American actress. Her first major role was Donna Martin (character), Donna Martin on ''Beverly Hills, 90210'', from 1990 to 2000. She has appeared in made-for-television films, including ''A Fri ...

. After 13 years of marriage, McDermott and Eustace divorced on February 12, 2006, and he married Spelling that May. She later finished the adoption of her daughter (born 2004) as a single parent. Although McDermott was awarded joint custody of their son, Eustace moved back to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

with her children. She returned to Los Angeles in 2008 and has been based there since.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eustace, Mary Jo 1962 births Actresses from Toronto Comedians from Toronto Writers from Toronto Singers from Toronto Canadian emigrants to the United States Canadian women singer-songwriters Female models from Ontario Canadian film actresses Canadian television chefs Canadian radio hosts Canadian television actresses Canadian women comedians Canadian cookbook writers Living people George Brown College alumni Canadian women television personalities Canadian women radio hosts 20th-century Canadian actresses 20th-century Canadian comedians 20th-century Canadian women singers 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian actresses 21st-century Canadian women singers 21st-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers 21st-century Canadian comedians Canadian women chefs Chefs from Toronto 20th-century Canadian singer-songwriters 21st-century Canadian singer-songwriters