Jenny McCarthy, 53, Details Health Crisis with 9 Surgeries, Tooth Loss, and Eye Growths

Jenny McCarthy has had a major health issue this year that she is finally now opening up about.

The 53-year-old blonde beauty, who used to model for Playboy magazine, said it all started with a mouth infection.

The Masked Singer star went on to endure nine painful surgeries and even saw some of her teeth fall out during the unusual scare.

‘I’ve had nine surgeries this year, on my mouth,’ she told People. ‘I had one infection that turned into another and another, and then I had these growths show up on my eyeballs.’

The culprit was a failed ceramic dental implant. ‘My teeth were falling out, implants falling out,’ revealed the wife of 56-year-old singer/actor Donnie Wahlberg who is best known for his shows Blue Bloods and Boston Blue.

‘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.’

On November 25, she and Wahlberg released their annual holiday card where they posed as toys inside a box.

McCarthy told the site she looked slender in the card because she has not been able to eat as much due to the stitches in her moth.

‘I had two more mouth surgeries even after that photo was taken,’ she says. ‘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,’ she says. ‘People should actually feel a little sorry for me!’

She hopes she will be able to enjoy Thanksgiving with her spouse, she added.

‘It’s been a little tricky-wicky getting together,’ she said of their schedules. ‘I’ve been shooting The Masked Singer in Los Angeles, he’s been in Canada with Boston Blue. 

‘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.’

She hopes will be able to eat turkey. ‘I think I’m past the storm,’ she says. ‘I’m about to chow down!’

In May, the star talked about her husband Wahlberg who used to be in the boy band New Kids on the Block.

She said she was too old to be a NKOTB fan because they formed in 1984 when she was already into other stars.

Jenny told People: ‘If I were in my late 40s, I probably would’ve fit into that slot of New Kid’s fan, but I’m 52, going on 53, so I was too cool for that.

‘I was really into Madonna, though. Like, dressed like her, I’d wear my shirt showing my bra strap. Absolutely loved her.’

However, she did see her future husband on TV during his heyday. She recalled: ‘The first time I remember seeing Donnie was on Entertainment Tonight, and he was on his motorcycle, and I was like, “Look at that guy trying to look so cool on his motorcycle!” It’s so funny… I never thought one day I would be marrying Donnie.’

Although Jenny and Donnie first met in 2012 they didn’t start dating until a year later. They married on August 31, 2014.

The former Playmate has son Evan, 22, with her actor former husband John Asher, 54, while Donnie is dad to sons Xavier, 32, and Elijah, 23, with ex-wife Kim Fey.

Jenny and Donnie are so loved-up, they renew their wedding vows every year.

Appearing on the Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa podcast in 2024, Jenny said of their romantic tradition: ‘I used to make fun of celebrities when they would do it, or people in general, when they renew their vows.

‘I’m like, “That’s so corny and weird. Your wedding’s over. Just stay married,” and then Donnie — this is a tradition Donnie wanted to implement.’