Jenny McCarthy on why she lives in Illinois: 'Midwest is where it's at'
Despite her role on one of the most popular TV competition shows, Jenny McCarthy doesn’t call Hollywood home. Rather, The Masked Singer judge, who also hosts The Jenny McCarthy Show on Sirius XM, resides in the Midwest. Speaking with the Chicago Tribune, McCarthy explained why she and husband Donnie Wahlberg chose St. Charles, Ill., as their main base.
While Wahlberg is a well-known Boston native, he and McCarthy have truly built a life in the Midwest, McCarthy explained. “Donnie said to me, ‘Why would we ever leave the place we love the most?’ I have a feeling we’re going to be locals for a very long time.” For work, the family does spend a significant amount of time traveling to Los Angeles and New York as well as on tour with Whalberg’s group, New Kids on the Block.
Originally from Illinois, McCarthy noted that family brought her back to her roots. “When [her son] Evan was 7 or 8 years old I thought, I need him to make long-term friends and in L.A. that’s kind of hard ... The kids [in Illinois] ride their bikes, play kickball. You just don’t see that on the coast. Midwest is where it’s at.”
The family loves life in the suburbs, but they do often make it to Chicago, saying: “We go [downtown] for date nights or go to a concert downtown, we just like to hop around and try different restaurants. Me and my girlfriends hit up the club, we’re the oldest people at the club, but we’re young at heart.”
McCarthy also talked about how she got involved in The Masked Singer — the show everyone is obsessed with.
“My agent called me and said, ‘You have an offer on this game show and I really think you should pass.’ But when I watched the Korean version with these ornate costumes with people singing, I knew instantly that this show was going to work,” she explained. “It’s not just a music competition, you have to use a different part of your brain to figure out who that person is ... for me it’s absolutely using that part of my brain that loves a good challenge. I love having clues and putting clues together and being able to solve a puzzle; I feel like a detective trying to put it together.”
And, if you’re wondering, yes, she really does eat at Wahlburgers — the burger chain her husband founded with his brothers Mark and Paul, that also has a reality show in its 10th season — but she does try to keep it healthy. Sometimes.
“I like the burger bowl when I’m trying to stay away from carbs,” McCarthy said, “but when I don’t care about carbs I usually get the Thanksgiving burger and sweet potato tots.”
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