An Afternoon with The Guncles

In Baby, Kids by Guest Writer4 Comments



You may think you know them from their role as Hollywood Guncles to Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott’s children, but Scout Masterson and Bill Horn have had long careers and have even more to offer those struggling through the adoption process.  I had the opportunity to sit down with these two love birds last week.  I thought I would come up with a funny post about all things Guncle, with my usual witty questions and humorous responses.  But what I quickly learned is that these two work REALLY hard and are on an endless crusade to make adoption easier and more accessible for all.  And really, that’s no joke!  Amazing is more like it.  Here’s what they had to say!

AS: The public first got to know you both several years ago as “The Guncles” on Tori and Dean Home Sweet Hollywood. But who were you before?

BH+SM: Scout is from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania (“Home of the Groundhog”) and Bill is from Mendham, New Jersey. We both arrived in Los Angeles around the same time 13 years ago. Bill transferred from NYC with his job with GLAAD and Scout moved to LA to pursue a career in Casting. We met  a little over 10 years ago at a charity function and had an instant spark – The rest is history.

AS: Wow, so you’ve been together for more than a decade. At what point in your relationship did you decide children were the next step?

BH+SM: We took our time with our relationship and enjoyed life. We travelled to London, Paris, Spain… and worked hard in between. Always knowing that we wanted children, we really moved forward with starting a family of our own after Liam, and then Stella were born and we started spending a lot of time with them. 

AS: Ok, so you adopted your beautiful daughter, Simone. What about that prompted you to start your non-profit, Hold My Hand Adoptions?

BH+SM: Since “Tori & Dean” chronicled the steps of our adoption, we had a lot of people reaching out via Facebook and Twitter asking us adoption questions. They were either thinking of starting the process themselves, or had already started the process and wanted to know how we handled and overcame certain situations. For months, we answered people and gave advice based on how we handled the process. Our interests to help people kept growing and so therefore last November, during “National Adoption Month”, we decided to make our mentoring service official and launch Hold My Hand. We think of ourselves as “Adoption Concierges”, and give advice on everything from getting started with the adoption process to getting the nursery ready for baby’s arrival.

AS: So what do people in need of your help do to sign up?

BH+SM: We offer our advice for free. We’re not social workers or trained professionals, just two dads who have been through the process and have now encountered many different situations through our client’s experiences. Since November, we’ve been working with all kinds of “clients” – well over 40 of them. Some people are in constant contact, others just ask us questions along the way from time to time when they feel frustrated or stuck in their own adoption journey. The greatest reward is getting photos of the people we’ve helped with their babies. It’s amazing!

AS: Speaking of the adoption journey, how much more difficult was the adoption process for you as a same-sex couple?

BH+SM: Our journey was an emotional roller coaster. We went months and months without even getting a phone call from a birthmother. It was very difficult. Just as we were looking at ourselves like “why is no one picking us”,  Simone’s birthmother reached out to us and the rest is history. We will always remember Tori telling us “Your baby will find you” and sure enough, she did.

AS: I’ve noticed lately that Hollywood seems to really be opening up to the portrayal of same-sex couples and families in movies and tv.  For example in Modern Family, Glee, or in the movie The Kids Are All Right. But, how does it make you feel to be one of the only “real” gay families represented on reality T.V.?

B.H.+S.M.:  We’re honored to be able to share our lives with people and show them that our family is essentially just like theirs. We were the first gay family to appear regularly on a reality tv show – and that’s such an honor. We would love to do a show completely about our family. America’s tv needs “The Guncles” show!

(Editor’s Note) Now that would DEFINITELY make it on to my DVR!
Want to keep in touch with The Guncles? Follow @scoutmasterson, @thebillhorn & The Guncles on Facebook!

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Comments

  1. I love this couple and am so proud of them! Awesome gay parent!!

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