‘Blue Bloods’ Star, Donnie Wahlberg Shares His Family Dinner Holiday Tradition with Jenny McCarthy
Fans were able to watch the Reagans celebrate the holidays at the family dinner table on Blue Bloods. But how do the stars celebrate in real life?
Donnie Wahlberg shared a family dinner tradition he has with Jenny McCarthy. Find out what it is and what else he said about family dinners during his childhood.
Donnie Wahlberg said the first family dinner on ‘Blue Bloods’ reminded him of his family
The actor talked about the beloved family dinner scenes on Blue Bloods. He said it’s a reason why he wanted to play Danny Reagan.
“Well, the family dinner scenes on Blue Bloods, the very first one that I ever read, obviously, was the pilot episode,” Wahlberg revealed to Showbiz Cheat Sheet. “When I read that scene, that was the moment I decided I wanted to be a part of the show.”
He then said, “I hadn’t been offered the job yet, so I had to go in and earn it. But I read that scene and it rang so true to my childhood and to my upbringing with all of us sitting around the table arguing and disagreeing and everyone have a different point of view.”
He said Frank reminded him of his own dad
The actor said Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck) felt very real to him. That’s because he approached the dinner table like his own father.
“And with this brooding, mustached dad at the head of the table literally shooting that first dinner scene, it took me back to my childhood when my dad sat at the head of the table with his mustache holding court over the table,” Wahlberg said. “It just felt so authentic.”
Wahlberg and Jenny McCarthy have French’s green bean casserole as a tradition
The actor talked about the best gift he’s received with Page Six. That would be his blended family with McCarthy.
“Probably the best gift I think we can think of, and this might sound sappy, is that we each have given an additional parent to our kids,” he said. “You know, our sons have grown up together in our homes with us and Jenny’s really a wonderful stepmom to my son and I’m stepdad to her son, and giving them a unified family Christmas after years of being single parents, I think that’s really the best gift we can give each other.”
The couple both grew up enjoying French’s green bean casserole with their family. McCarthy talked about that coincidence.
“It doesn’t surprise me that Donnie and I grew up with it, loved it, because we both grew up on a budget,” she said. “It was just something our families both had to have at our dinner table. So we continued the tradition with our combined families.”
Wahlberg isn’t much of a cook himself. “I’m not really allowed in the kitchen during Thanksgiving. I just go in and pick at everything and that’s kind of what I did my whole life so it really works perfectly,” he admitted. “So we have to buy extra crispy fried onions because I pretty much eat them like potato chips while she’s making the casserole.”
The couple seems happy to keep that tradition alive. Now Blue Bloods fans know about one thing that is on their family dinner table.
