Investigation Discovery’s Very Scary Lovers allowed real-life couple Donnie Wahlberg and Jenny McCarthy to combine their love of true crime — and each other — while working together.
“We don’t get opportunities to [collaborate professionally] that much unless. So to do something like this and to be producers on the show too, it’s too much to pass up,” Wahlberg, 55, exclusively told Us Weekly in a cover story about their true crime special.
McCarthy, 52, was just as thrilled to get the chance to spend more time with Wahlberg, sharing, “There isn’t a difference because wherever I go with him, it feels like home. It’s not meant to be sappy, but we were driving to work today and I’m like, ‘It totally doesn’t feel like we’re going to work.’”
After hosting Very Scary People for six seasons solo, Wahlberg enjoyed having a partner in crime for Very Scary Lovers.
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“It gets scary sometimes and some of the stories are pretty heavy. I’ve spent all these years coming home to Jenny and saying, ‘Oh my God, we did this and we did that,” Wahlberg said before McCarthy added, “When Donnie would come home or we’d watch the shows together, I am obviously a true crime fan. I’m that person that does deep dives into rabbit holes. So I’m like, ‘I need more.’ Having him next to me, I can dissect more out of him. I love figuring out the psychology behind all of it.”
Very Scary People explores the lives of some of the most notorious criminals in history — such as John Wayne Gacy, Charles Manson and Aileen Wuornos — through personal firsthand accounts and rare in-depth interviews from survivors. The show’s spinoff, Very Scary Lovers, meanwhile, is a special about Benjamin and Erika Sifrit a.k.a the Thrill Killers.
“We love true crime and I tend to sometimes feed my need off of older YouTube documentaries where some shows haven’t covered certain cases,” McCarthy told Us. “And I come to Donnie and I’m like, ‘You need to do this one.’”
With Wahlberg and McCarthy’s production company, Work Baby, working in partnership with Pilgrim Media Group as the producers for both Investigation Discovery projects, the pair have the chance to be more involved in not just hosting but the production for each show.
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“She’s on the show and produces it with me so we can do them,” Wahlberg noted. “She doesn’t have to ask me to do [a certain case] anymore.”
The best part though is how inspiring the process has been for Wahlberg and McCarthy.
“It’s nice to have someone who has your back [on set]. If I’m doing something that he knows I could do better or something like that, he’ll let me know and the same,” she shared with Us as Wahlberg noted, “One thing about both of us is we’ve both been making television and movies and stuff for a very long time. And it’s really cool to work with someone as smart as Jenny.”
Wahlberg continued: “To know that I can lean on her expertise, count on her to just show up, get it and be adept at making changes — it’s really fun. It’s nice to have a partner in the show who gets it and in many ways gets it more than I do and is helping to elevate the show and bring this whole new world of stories to true crime fans everywhere.”
The season finale of Very Scary People airs on Investigation Discovery Sunday, February 2, at 8 p.m. ET. Very Scary Lovers premieres on Sunday, February 2, at 10 p.m. ET after the Very Scary People season 6 finale.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
