Tom Selleck’s life is about to change. Blue Bloods will air its final episode sometime this fall after 14 seasons on the air.
Though the show’s cast has strongly hinted that they’d love to return for another season, CBS is holding firm in its decision to cancel the cop drama. That puts Selleck in a tough position financially, he admitted in a recent interview.
Tom Selleck hopes to keep working after ‘Blue Bloods’ ends
Selleck, 79, is well past the age when most people consider retiring. But the Magnum P.I. actor says he doesn’t plan to hang up his hat when Blue Bloods ends. He recently chatted with CBS Sunday Morning about his new memoir, You Never Know, and his plans for after the show concludes. He said he intended to spend more time on his ranch in Ventura County, Calif., provided he can afford it.
“You know, hopefully I keep working enough to hold onto the place,” he said.
The incredulous interviewer asked if he was really at risk of losing the property if he stopped working.
“That’s always an issue,” he replied. “If I stopped working, yeah. Am I set for life? Yeah, but maybe not on a 63-acre ranch!”
Selleck bought the ranch in 1988
Selleck has owned the former avocado ranch for decades. He and his wife Jillie Mack bought the property in 1988, after he quit Magnum P.I. The ranch is a world away from the glitz of Hollywood, and Selleck says he keeps busy tending to tasks around the property.
“My relationships and my ranch keep me sane … I do grunt work and I make the rounds,” he told People in 2020. “I like watching things grow. It’s a retreat.”
Selleck isn’t the first star to have owned the ranch. He bought it from Rat Pack icon Dean Martin, according to Closer Weekly. The rural property turned out to be “the best place to raise a child,” Mack told the magazine. She and Selleck have a daughter, Hannah. (He also has a son from a previous marriage.)
The ranch also helped re-center Selleck after he became a massive TV star thanks to Magnum P.I.
“It was such the wisdom of Tom. He knew he needed to buy back his anonymity, to replenish the soul,” Mack added.
“This ranch is a great counterpoint to the acting business, which is an abstraction — you do something, it’s up on a piece of film, and everybody argues whether it’s good or bad,” Selleck explained to Closer. “You dig a hole and plant an oak tree — and I’ve probably planted a thousand of them — it’s real. It’s there, and you can watch it grow. It’s a lot different from being famous, and it keeps me sane.”
“I quit Magnum to have a family,” he added. “It took me a long time to get off the train, but I try very hard to have balance, and this ranch has helped me do that.”