“Blue Bloods” star Donnie Wahlberg and Jenny McCarthy are “very much in love” but don’t want to be considered a “Hollywood couple.”
“We’re proud of the fact that we’re a successful couple,” Wahlberg, who partnered with Clean Fuels Alliance America, told Fox News Digital. “We kind of shudder at the term Hollywood couple. Like, when we got together and people were like, ‘New Hollywood couple, they’ll last two years.'”
Wahlberg explained he took offense to those comments and doesn’t believe Hollywood defines him and McCarthy’s relationship. The actor and actress tied the knot in 2014 and will be celebrating their 10-year wedding anniversary in August.
“We’re like, first of all, we’re going to last more than two years. Second of all, we’re not a Hollywood couple. We’re a couple. Hollywood has nothing to do with our relationship and, frankly, we have very little to do with Hollywood,” Wahlberg explained.
JENNY MCCARTHY AND DONNIE WAHLBERG RENEW WEDDING VOWS ON 7 YEAR ANNIVERSARY
“We live in Illinois. She’s from Chicago, I’m from Boston and our relationship is not about Hollywood. It’s about home and family and love.”
WATCH: ‘Blue Bloods’ star Donnie Wahlberg says he and Jenny McCarthy ‘shudder’ at the term ‘Hollywood couple’
Donnie told Fox News Digital his secret to a happy marriage consists of two things.
“First of all, we’re very, very much in love. Two things that really have helped us the most is we put our relationship first in our lives despite the fact that we’re both very busy,” he said. “We really put our relationship first in the decisions we make in our careers. We consult each other.”
Wahlberg recently partnered with Clean Fuels Alliance America, which connects “leaders across the biodiesel, renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel industries to deliver better, cleaner fuels now for people and the planets,” according to the company’s website.
Donnie’s decision to partner with the organization was partly due to McCarthy.
“She was a big proponent of me doing the Bioheat [fuel] situation,” Wahlberg said. “I talked to her about it, and she said, ‘I love how you feel about it. I love your curiosity about it. I think it’s a great thing for you to do.'”
Wahlberg told Fox News Digital the partnership with Clean Fuels Alliance America was “unusual” for him at first, but he was intrigued by the “home heating oil aspect of it.”
“I grew up in a house in Boston that had a giant oil tank in the basement. I remember the oil guy coming and filling the tank and a lot of the homes in that region, in neighborhoods like I grew up in. Those homes, they need oil,” he said.
Wahlberg explained Clean Fuels Alliance America as an opportunity for families, like the one he grew up in, to make an affordable change to help save the environment.
“Here’s this product that’s come along that gives them a chance to do something to help create a cleaner environment without turning their life upside down, without breaking their bank,” Wahlberg explained. “I think most people, whether you’re on the green side of things or the other side of this conversation, everybody wants to be cleaner and do their part to make a cleaner environment”
The CEO of Clean Fuels also expressed the company’s excitement about its partnership with Wahlberg.
“We are honored and excited to have Donnie Wahlberg join forces with Clean Fuels in our mission to promote sustainable energy solutions,” Donnell Rehagen said in a statement. “Donnie’s involvement adds a powerful voice to our campaign, bringing attention to the positive impact of Bioheat® fuel on both a local and global scale. We believe that, together, we can inspire positive change and encourage individuals to make the switch to cleaner, more sustainable heating options.”
As for Donnie’s second secret to a successful marriage with Jenny? It was learning from his past mistakes. The actor told Fox News Digital that since he and McCarthy both had past marriages, they “both desperately wanted it to work.”
“So, we had to put in the work, and that’s the other secret,” Wahlberg said. “People say relationships shouldn’t be work, but if you care about something, you work hard at it. So many times people don’t want to put that work into their relationship, and they think of work in a relationship as problems, but it’s actually problem prevention and problem-solving if you put it in the work.”
Donnie often shows off his wife on social media and what they like to do for fun. On Tuesday, Wahlberg shared a video of himself and McCarthy dancing through the hallways of a hotel.
“Stay cool and Keep dancing!” he captioned the post.
Wahlberg explained that it’s very “healthy” for his children and McCarthy’s son to see the pair putting in the work and effort to maintain a successful relationship.
Donnie shares two sons, Xavier and Elijah Wahlberg, with his ex-wife, Kimberly Fey. Jenny has one son, Evan, with her ex-husband, John Asher.
To Wahlberg, incorporating date nights into his routine with McCarthy is considered putting in the work.
“Date nights are work, you know? I don’t mean it’s difficult to have a date night, but you have to make the choice to give each other that time,” Wahlberg said. “It’s very easy to get caught up in the kids and the jobs and the pets and the bills and all this stuff, and you just stop caring about the relationship.”
WATCH: Donnie Wahlberg says he wakes up every day ‘grateful to be here’
Wahlberg pointed out that couples tend to have a lot of fun when they are dating and pursuing each other, and he doesn’t think that needs to stop once two people decide to get married.
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“Do the little things that made you fall in love with each other even more after you’re married,” he said. “I think that’s what we try to do. We had a lot of fun when we were dating. Let’s continue to make the effort to have that fun now.”
Wahlberg’s role as Danny Reagan on “Blue Bloods” and his new partnership with Clean Fuels Alliance America have kept him busy. When it comes to his bucket list, there is still one thing Donnie hopes to accomplish while still being grateful for where his life is now.
“I kind of wake up every day just grateful to be here, and I’m very grateful for the opportunities I have and [my] healthy kids and an amazing wife,” Wahlberg began. “I get to do things that I love to do. I just want to continue to do things that I’m passionate about and cure so many people. Even this partnership with Bioheat, I’m curious about it and it’s fun. I’ve been on a fun journey.”
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Donnie hopes to be able to pivot his career and shoot a television show with Jenny, but not a reality series.
WATCH: Donnie Wahlberg’s ‘bucket list item’ is filming a television show with wife Jenny McCarthy
“I did think of one thing I do want to do before my career is over,” Wahlberg told Fox News Digital. “I want to do a show, not a reality show. I want to do a scripted show with my wife. I think we would do a phenomenal sitcom or a single-camera comedy or even a drama. But I would love to be able to work with her.”
He noted that his wife is known “as an advocate, as an author and all these different things,” but she’s been “overlooked” as an actress.
“She’s very funny. And one of the things that flatters me about her, both of us, we have so much fun together,” Wahlberg said. “The idea of working together on something comedic is definitely, I’d say, the only thing on my bucket list.”
