Donnie Wahlberg reveals how Blue Bloods helped ‘seal the deal’ with wife Jenny McCarthy

The stars of the hit CBS police procedural drama Blue Bloods owe a lot to the show over the course of its 14 year run, which they’ve often spoken about in interviews.

However, it looks like Donnie Wahlberg might owe the show a lot more than just increased fame and a paycheck, it might have even helped him land his wife.

The actor and musician, 55, made an appearance with his Blue Bloods co-stars Tom Selleck, Bridget Moynahan, Len Cariou, Vanessa Ray and Marisa Ramirez, plus showrunner Kevin Wade, at PaleyFest NY last week, which HELLO! attended.

During the panel, moderated by CBS News anchor Vladimir Duthiers, the attendees took a moment to shout out some of the show’s prolific writers in the room, including Daniel Truly.

After giving them their flowers with a round of applause, the New Kids on the Block musician specifically recalled that it was one episode that Dan had written that contributed to his relationship with eventual wife Jenny McCarthy.

“When I started dating my wife, Dan’s episode came on TV, and it was in season 3, and it was Danny was getting offered a job to be a personal security guard and leave the police department,” Donnie recalled. “And I was like, ‘Who’s gonna hire me? I’m five foot nine.'”

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He specifically was referring to the season 3 episode “Greener Grass,” in which he is offered the role of working as the personal security detail for one of his sister Erin’s witnesses.

“I’m like, ‘Dan, this is not realistic, this would never happen,'” although the writer was convinced the episode would turn out well, with Donnie confessing it “drove me crazy.”

MORE: Blue Bloods star Bridget Moynahan recalls heartfelt moment with Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg on last day on set

Fast forward to him first meeting and dating Jenny, 51, who admitted to him that she’d actually seen a lot of Blue Bloods. She added: “You know, one I really love is that [episode] where Danny got a job offer to be a personal assistant.”

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The audience broke out into hysterics as Donnie quipped: “That’s my favorite episode!” before turning to Dan in the audience and joking: “Thanks Dan, really helped seal the deal.”

MORE: Inside Blue Bloods stars Bridget Moynahan and Donnie Wahlberg’s real-life brother-sister bond

The cast did share several other sweet moments together, reminiscing about their first days of filming, moving to New York, and maneuvering the famous dinner table scenes each episode and their tricks to not eat the food.

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One of the other touching moments from Donnie came when he remembered what his co-star Tom said to him after one of the show’s very first screenings in New York. “I remember we finished that screening, and Tom and I passed each other in the other room.”

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“I don’t know what was going to happen, Tom just said, ‘Hey, I’m really good at fixing scripts and making things better,'” he remembered. “And I was like, ‘…okay’… I thought he was going to say something like, ‘So if you need help with your scenes or whatever, come talk to me.'”

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But what Tom added after was really: “And so are you. I’m counting on you to keep doing that as long as the show’s on the air,” which Donnie affirmed as the moment he knew he’d stay with the show for the entirety of its run.