Photo:Charley Gallay/Getty
Charley Gallay/Getty
Mary Jo Eustaceis in no rush to go down the aisle again. Or ever really.
“The joke is I start getting hives when peoplebring up marriage,” the trained chef and podcast host deadpans to PEOPLE. “I don’t think I need to get married again. I don’t think it would be high on my list.”
The truth is that Eustace, 61, is dating and having “a blast” enjoying her later years. And through her new podcast series,Senior Bitches, she’s on a mission to encourage other women to do the same.
“I want women to know that, as we get older, it doesn’t all shut down,” the mom of two says. “There’s lots of great opportunities, lots of great fun to be had.”
Mary Jo Eustace is the face and host of the new podcast series, ‘Senior Bitches,’ which encourages women to embrace getting older.Senior Bitches
Senior Bitches
Launched in May, this series is a departure from her previous 2022 podcast,Ex’s & Uh-Oh’s, which she briefly co-hosted with her ex-husband, actorDean McDermott.
InSenior Bitches with Mary Jo Eustace, she interviews women over 55 and the occasional man (Elton John’shusband, filmmakerDavid Furnishwas a recent guest) and the emphasis is on, to quote the show’s synopsis, exploring “the super fun world of becoming and being a senior citizen.”
“I wanted to do something that shone a light on the landscape post-55, because really around the world, a senior citizen can start at 55, which is such a concept that I’m in that category,” Eustace says. “I wasin Romein January and February, thinking of a reset, and I wanted to do something that I could really relate to and that had meaning for me. I met one of my friends who… at 62 is having the most productive period of her life. She’s like, on to her fourth husband, having great sex, great financial rewards. And she’s like, ‘This is the best part of my life.’"
“We call it the curiosity landscape… there’s going to be losses in that timeframe, but I thought, what a great area to explore.”
Podcast hosting is only the latest gig in Eustace’s lengthy career. Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, she studied English at college, went to cooking school, got her culinary degree, did some modeling and acting.
“I did it with my [cohost] Ken Kostick, who passed away many years ago,” Eustace says of the chef who died in 2011. “[He] was my best friend. It was very funny, very irreverent. We were talking about topics that were taboo. I get letters all the time from people saying, ‘I came out to your show.’ ‘My parents were going through chemo. We watched your show.’ To this day, it has an impact, certainly on the gay culture and people have very fond memories of it.”
The duo later cohosted another couple of shows, including one that was broadcast on anLGBTQ+radio station. She says, “We had this great dynamic. He was super gay and super short, and I was super tall and obnoxious, and we just had this banter.”
In the 30 years sinceWhat’s For Dinner?premiered, Eustace’s life has taken several turns, including motherhood and a high profile divorce in 2006 from McDermott, who went on to marry actressTori Spelling.
Eustace, who politely declines to comment on the status of their marriage, has spent the last two decades focusing on raising her children, son Jack, 24 — who is about to take his LSATs to enter law school — and daughter Lola, who just graduated from high school and is on the cusp of 18.
“I was just at Washington State University with her.She graduated earlyand she almost [has] a full ride. Thank God,” the proud mom says.
Now nearly an empty nester, Eustace is ready to fully dive into her 60s with enthusiasm. Thinking back to hitting the milestone last year and celebrating with friends including Furnish (whom she has known for more than 45 years), she says, “I was excited. It was a great liberating feeling to hit that number. I felt younger and more inquisitive and more curious than I’ve felt in my life.”
Mary Jo Eustace with Elton John and her daughter Lola in Los Angeles in February 2019.pixie Productions
pixie Productions
“It was a conversation about love and life and losses and grief. We had cocktails and we laughed, and it was a deep, deep dive into grief and monsters, but still the joy of life,” she says of her chat with Del Mar. She adds, “Once you dive in, everybody has a different story."
Mary Jo Eustace uses this bikini shot to promote her new podcast series, ‘Senior Bitches.'.Senior Bitches
Right now, Eustace’s story involves dating (she has a “lovely situation right now” that she plays coy about), vacationing in Europe, learning Italian and celebrating the skin she’s in. (Hence the photograph of her wearing a bikini being used as promotional image for the podcast.)
“Honestly, I think I look better than I did five years ago,” she says. “I’m just going to keep telling myself that. I exercise, I’m happy. I think it’s a blast. I dated men 12 years younger. I dated men older and it’s just fun. There’s no downside to it. I think it’s wonderful.”
She adds, “We don’t just shrivel up and die once we hit 40. So, I think there’s a great freedom to [getting older]. I don’t see any impediments at this age to meeting and having wonderful experiences.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.Senior Bitcheswith Mary Jo Eustaceis available wherever you listen to podcasts.
source: people.com
