Donnie Wahlberg has passed what may be the most important test of his relationship with new girlfriend Jenny McCarthy: the kid test! Having already charmed the View co-host, 40, the Blue Bloods actor was tasked with winning over her 11-year-old son, Evan — and it seems he succeeded.
"[He's] nothing short of awesome [with my son]," McCarthy gushed to Us Weekly on Monday, Sept. 9, after her debut on The View. "It's too soon to actually give the biggest opinion in the world, but the one meeting has been great. [Donnie is] son-approved!"
(Evan is the former Singled Out host's only child from her marriage to actor/director John Mallory Asher, whom she divorced in 2005. Walhberg is a single parent as well; he and ex-wife Kim Fey have two children, Xavier and Elijah.)
The New Kids on the Block singer got the stamp of approval from McCarthy's View co-hosts, too. Sherri Shepherd even rocked an "I [Heart] Donnie" T-shirt to welcome him as the show's first guest of the season.
"He was supposed to do the show for Blue Bloods, and I said, 'Can we just move it up a little bit? Because you make me feel comfortable,'" McCarthy explained to Us of Wahlberg's Sept. 9 visit to the set, noting that she wanted a little extra insurance in case she got nervous before her big debut. "I mean, I was like, 'What if I have a guest I don't click with?' I told him, 'I just want to make sure there would be someone there that makes me feel as good as you do.'"
His presence paid off. "I wasn't [nervous]!" the comedienne told Us after the show, adding that she didn't really do anything special to prepare. "I just did what I always did before in terms of homework, which was read up on my bios and then I got a good night's sleep."
She added: "One thing I love about the show is that it's so authentic. They don't give you much homework because everything really does come from a natural place. The Hot Topics, we don't know until like 20 minutes before we sit down. So you don't really have time to form an opinion, and then by the time you do, it's coming out of your mouth and you're going, 'Oh no! I didn't have time to realize that that was the dumbest thing to say.'"
