As the holidays begin, Jenny McCarthy is getting candid on a serious health issue.
“I’ve had nine surgeries this year, on my mouth. I had one infection that turned into another and another, and then I had these growths show up on my eyeballs,” the actress, 53, revealed to People ahead of Thanksgiving.
It all started after a ceramic dental implant went wrong.
“My teeth were falling out, implants falling out,” McCarthy continued. “They finally had to dig into my jawbone and chipped away, and found I had a deep bone infection. I’ve been on antibiotics for a year, and have had to eat soft foods only.”
Having stitches in her mouth caused the Formless Beauty founder to eat less. On Tuesday, McCarthy and her husband, Donnie Wahlberg, put out their annual holiday card. The couple, who tied the knot in 2014, looked trimmer than ever.
“I had two more mouth surgeries even after that photo was taken,” she explained. “I’ve been pretty unlucky.”
“As of now, I’m able to chew again, but every time we thought it had cleared up, it came back again. I’d be in massive pain with my jaw swelling up, and at the same time I was getting these growths popping up on my eyeballs,” McCarthy detailed. “People should actually feel a little sorry for me!”
Now, the model, who is mom to Evan, 23, with ex-husband John Asher, is looking forward to family time.
“It’s been a little tricky-wicky getting together,” McCarthy revealed of balancing her and Wahlberg’s busy schedules.
“I’ve been shooting ‘The Masked Singer’ in Los Angeles, he’s been in Canada with ‘Boston Blue,”’ she expressed. “So it’s been tricky and difficult, which means Thanksgiving and Christmas will mean more to us than ever this year. It’s just me and him, at home in Chicago, me cooking a bird, and enjoying each other.”
“I think I’m past the storm,” McCarthy added. “I’m about to chow down!”
The reality television judge documented her tooth journey on TikTok earlier this year.
“Surgery update! The tooth drama solved! I don’t think I could’ve handled much more. Thank you. @My Smile Body,” she captioned her video.
Meanwhile, despite McCarthy and Wahlberg, 56, being booked and busy, the pair still makes time for one another when they can.
In January, the “Santa Baby” star revealed where she and the “Blue Bloods” alum prefer to get intimate.
“We like to sneak off at parties,” McCarthy told Us Weekly at the time. “If someone has a Christmas party, we’re going to find the basement bathroom, take advantage of the moment.”
When asked how they “keep things spicy,” Wahlberg chimed in: “It’s not hard. I wake up and I’m like, ‘Pinch me. This is crazy.’”
“Me, too,” McCarthy agreed. “Now that we’ve acquired five little Shih Tzu puppies in our bedroom, we have to get creative. We’ve dedicated little spots in our house that are more romantic. But also, nothing is sexier than respecting each other. When Donnie supports me, that’s the best foreplay ever.”
McCarthy and Wahlberg first met in 2012 after a joint appearance on “Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.” The duo renewed their vows in 2024 at the same location where they said “I do” the first time.
The actor noted that he and McCarthy “work at keeping it hot,” which has helped strengthen their relationship.
“Of course we love each other and we’re attracted to each other, but we also give it care,” he elaborated. “That’s how you keep [the spark] alive. We don’t take for granted that it’s been 10 years and we don’t have to do that stuff anymore. Keep doing it.”
As for the secret to a successful union, McCarthy stated: “We do the work.”
“Prioritizing the marriage,” Wahlberg said. “If we put things before the relationship, we have a weak foundation. We went in [saying], ‘Let’s give it everything we’ve got and make it the center of our lives.’”
These days, the CBS star has stepped back into the shoes of his iconic “Blue Bloods” character Danny Reagan months after the original show got canceled after 14 seasons.
Last month, Wahlberg opened up about why he decided to join the spin-off “Boston Blue.”
He explained that, originally, there were two different spinoff ideas floating around. One saw Danny in Texas while the other took place in Boston, per People.
“I think they were like, ‘Hey, instead of moving to Texas, why don’t we talk about him joining this thing and moving to Boston?’” Wahlberg told fans during the CBS special screening of the cop drama.
“But I really didn’t think that would ever happen anytime soon,” he added. “I was just chugging along in ‘Blue Bloods.’”
Wahlberg was initially hesitant to reprise his character, but quickly had a change of heart.
“Suddenly it was like, ‘Do I really wanna do a spinoff?’ I didn’t know. And this idea was really good. And the script was really good,” he shared. “I looked at it and I saw the possibilities of weaving the ‘Blue Bloods’ world into it, and I saw a chance to play Danny in a different way.”
