Mary Jo Eustace on Why Getting Remarried Isn’t ‘High’ on Her List – and What She Loves About Her 60s (Exclusive)

The soon-to-be empty nester and host of the podcast series 'Senior Bitches' is on a mission to prove to women that they can live their best life after 55

Mary Jo Eustace is in no rush to go down the aisle again. Or ever really.

“The joke is I start getting hives when people bring 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.”

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, actor Dean McDermott.

In Senior Bitches with Mary Jo Eustace, she interviews women over 55 and the occasional man (Elton John’s husband, filmmaker David Furnish was 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.”

Related: Elton John and David Furnish's Relationship Timeline

“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 was in Rome in 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.

But she made a name for herself in Canada in the mid-1990s by cohosting the cooking show, What’s For Dinner?

“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 an LGBTQ+ 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 since What’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 actress Tori 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 early and 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.”

Senior Bitches, which is produced by her friend Toronto Mike, is just an extension of that curiosity. So far, her interviews have ranged from reminiscing with Furnish about being outsiders at the local Toronto country club where they met when they were both 14, to speaking to actress Maria Del Mar who is receiving treatment for terminal cancer while still grieving the loss of her son who was recently killed.

“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."

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.”

Related: Celebrities Turning 60 in 2023

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.”

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Senior Bitches with Mary Jo Eustace is available wherever you listen to podcasts.

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