Jenny McCarthy: Bullies, Beauty & Manifesting Career Magic

Welcome to the premiere episode of The Coop with Kit! We are kicking this podcast off with a bang as we welcome the fabulous Jenny McCarthy to The Coop.

Jenny's journey in the entertainment industry spans three decades, from her bold decision to enhance her assets (new boobs sans anesthesia!) to gracing the pages of Playboy as Miss October and stealing hearts on MTV's Singled Out. But that's just the tip of the iceberg—she's also a multi-time New York Times Best-Selling Author, actress, activist, beauty entrepreneur, and Warrior Mom.

Jenny shares her secrets for manifesting success and invites us into her world of love, joy, and endless opportunities. And how she survived getting her hair caught on fire by bullies in high school, getting her bush fluffed as a Playmate centerfold, and navigating around near brushes with death.

Get ready to laugh, learn, gasp, and maybe even drop a few "damn”s—because when it comes to being the bomb, Jenny McCarthy is truly in a league of her own.

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Follow us on social media @thecoopwithkithoover for behind the scenes content, teasers and updates. 

Keep up with Jenny McCarthy on Instagram @jennymccarthy. AND go to formlessbeauty.com to purchase clean, gorgeous, soul-expanding beauty products and get 10% off with code COOP10.

This episode was produced by Kit Hoover and Harper McDonald. Our Technical Producer is Christian Brown, and this episode was edited by Christian Brown. Business Development by Casey Ladd.

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Follow The Coop with Kit on Instagram @thecoopwithkithoover

Transcript

This transcript was generated automatically and reviewed by Harper McDonald. Its accuracy may vary. 

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Kit Hoover:

Welcome to the Coop with Kit. My name is Kit Hoover and I've been lucky enough in my 30 years in this business to interview some of the most iconic, badass women out there. 

So now I wanna bring these remarkable women into the coop, learn from them, study their playbook and bring it all to you. 

We all know that girlfriends give the greatest advice so we get into their career. Marriage, kids, sex, aging, all of it. Ladies, I feel like we are just hitting our stride. So get ready chickens. Let's get into it. 

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My guest today is none other than Jenny McCarthy. Jenny's been navigating this business for the last 30 years. She started as a Playboy Playmate, landed the most coveted job on Singled Out to become the darling of MTV. She's a New York Times bestselling author, multiple times over. 

Actress activist, beauty entrepreneur, warrior mom, and one of the most spiritual beings I've ever encountered. 

Nobody manifests success like Jenny McCarthy. Today we learn her exact tools for bringing love, joy, and opportunity into life. 

Get ready to laugh, learn and say holy crap… people…Jenny McCarthy is the bomb. 

Here we go. 

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Are we recording? Are you ready? Miss Jenny?

Jenny McCarthy:

I am

Kit Hoover:

Jenny. Thank you for coming on my podcast, the coop with Kit.

Jenny McCarthy:

I love it. I was so honored when you asked me. I was like, heck yeah, I love her.

Kit Hoover:

Well, we wanted to start here at the coop with something really important and you talk about having big balls and we wanna know how big are those balls, Jenny?

Jenny McCarthy:

Oh my God, I thought you were gonna ask me how big Donny's balls were.

Kit Hoover:

<laugh>. Well, that was next. That's my follow up.

Jenny McCarthy:

<laugh>. I've got some pretty good sized balls. I think once you become a mother, it's really amazing to even step outside yourself and look who you were before you gave birth and who you are after because you really become empowered and you know, especially a warrior. But uh, I feel like my balls keep growing.

Kit Hoover:

Jenny, one word to describe where you are in your life right now.

Jenny McCarthy:

Peaceful.

Kit Hoover:

Ah, explain.

Jenny McCarthy:

Even though I'm still incredibly like work driven, I'm always been like a hustler of wanting to just create things. But I don't feel that desperation I did in the past of like, you know, especially in this business, you kind of wanna, you wanna make it, you want your peers to be like, wow, you're amazing and da da da. That is all freaking a certain point. It's like how am I resonating with myself? How do I feel about myself and where I'm at and what I'm doing. I've just cleaned up my life. Not that it was a total wreck, even as weird as it may seem, but like sleeping pills. I would take sleeping pills for like the past 15 years and I finally got off of those. Like, doesn't seem like a big deal, but it is.

Kit Hoover:

No, that's a big deal.

Jenny McCarthy:

It is a big deal 'cause it's really, really tricky. Just taking good care of myself and learning how to say no really brought me to a peaceful place in my life.

Kit Hoover:

Do you think it's being in your fifties? do you think it's your love story with Donnie?

Jenny McCarthy:

I think it's a combination. I would also use the word like needless, you know, because I did find the love of my life. I don't need anything more from him or of him. I just enjoy him and it's so nice to have that. So that gives me a sense of calm and peace. I feel like my life, I look at like an empty canvas and I have all the paint and I'm like, I wanna throw as much paint on it while I'm here. And it's just, it turned into fun for me instead of like having to prove anything. And I think that definitely comes in your fifties where you go like, you know, I'm fine with who I am, I don't need to be anybody else. Now let me just paint and have fun with the canvas.

Kit Hoover:

What was little Jenny McCarthy like? Because in one of your books I was reading about you being bullied in all girl Catholic school, it made me so angry. What was all of that about? Take me on the inside there.

Jenny McCarthy:

Thanks for asking. 'cause I don't really get to talk about it that much, but I think it's kind of important and neat. But I went to an all-girl Catholic school and I really liked hair and makeup. So I had my big giant eighties hair, my blonde hair down on my butt that was permed. Lots of makeup. And when you go to an all girls school, that's not appreciated. <laugh>, if I went to a co-ed school, it might've been appreciated, but the girls were just not having it and it was very scary because they would like wait for me after school. They tried to, they did light my hair on fire at one point. But looking back on that now, I realized it was almost like a training school for Hollywood because it taught me resilience, it taught me how to not take things so personally.

You know, I really dove into spirituality the moment I got into LA and figured out very quickly early in my career that people that throw insults are really projecting their own level of consciousness on you and how I react to them, it will show mine. So that's kind of how I got through high school. I also kind of try to make people laugh a little bit. Like I tried to self deprecate to be silly and it kind of helped me. So I was like, okay, that's something I can do that will appease the girls around me a little bit. And maybe that's why, you know, I did Singled Out. I so went over the top to make fun of myself and be like, I don't take any of this stuff seriously. This is just fun. And let me show you that there's more to what meets the eye.

Kit Hoover:

When that was happening to you, who did you to about it? Like did you go home and tell your mom and dad? Did you tell your sisters? What did you do with all that emotion?

Jenny McCarthy:

You know, I love your questions because no one's ever asked me that, but I just bottled it all up because I was too embarrassed. I thought my mom would think I'm a loser. Plus I'm a person that doesn't like empathy. Like I didn't like people feeling sorry for me 'cause I felt like I can handle anything. And we didn't have much money growing up and it was hard. So I didn't wanna be a burden anymore. Like my mom was always stressed as to how we were gonna put food on the table. So to come home and burden her more, I just, it's maybe a middle child thing, but I was just like, hmm. It wasn't until like she found out that girls were trying to wait for me after school to beat me up. Or girls would come to the house and try to, you know, drag me out and

Kit Hoover:

What,

Jenny McCarthy:

Yeah, my mom. 

Kit Hoover:

What about the maxi pads where they'd write your name on it or something? Like what in the world

Jenny McCarthy:

Isn't that horrible? I mean, it wasn't just me in the school. There were 2000 girls, but they were vicious. That's why I'm like, I'm really glad social media wasn't around when I was that age because there's a lot of girls that take their life. And I knew I was strong enough not to do that. But man, there were moments where I was like really scared to go to school. I was really bullied. And I can't imagine if that was on a public scale like it is social media.

Kit Hoover:

So how has that experience affected your relationship with women going forward?

Jenny McCarthy:

God, you're, this is my favorite interview ever. Okay. <laugh>, because they're deep questions and I'm a Scorpio and I love getting deep <laugh>. Yes and no, because I would be fearful going into photo shoots or executives that they were gonna be vengeful towards me. But I also realized something else with therapy, which was that protection, that armor that I built to get through those years. And then to get through the autism years, it's kinda like that armor served me well. My therapist says that armor really served you well because a lot of people would've turned to drinking drugs. You still maintained your work. People said you had 15 minutes of fame 30 years ago, you're still here. Like you, you did it. And then when I met Donnie, I lacked vulnerability.

Kit Hoover:

How so?

Jenny McCarthy:

I wouldn't let him see, I'd let him see flaws. I'd made fun of myself. But this part, the vulnerability. And so when I went to the therapist, he said, you are safe now it's time to take the armor off. And I was just like, it was such like, I have the chills now thinking about it. 'cause it's true. I had such armor, I'm scared to show the little girl, the, the hurt little girl or the vulnerable little girl. And like I had to pry it off. But then once I did and knew that Donnie was a safe space, my whole life changed. And maybe that's why I'm peaceful now because I was able to comfort the little girl by, you know, taking off the armor and telling her that you're in a safe place now and it's okay and it served you well, but you don't need it anymore.

Kit Hoover:

What would you tell your younger self if you could go back?

Jenny McCarthy:

I go back now 'cause I, I'm spiritual and I believe space time and everything happens at the same time. And I, it's not like E-M-D-R therapy if you don't know what that is. I highly suggest looking that up. But I tell her like, everything's gonna be okay. And I go through the scenarios, those horrible scenarios. Even with my son when going into cardiac arrest or having seizures when I was a wreck. I go back in meditation and do like a guardian angel point of view and I stop in front of myself and I say, you're gonna be okay. Like to tell myself you're gonna be okay. There's gonna be shit and there's gonna be chaos sometimes, but you're gonna be okay. You're gonna come out of this so good. And I trust that and it's served me well.

Kit Hoover:

Well, any parent who has a middle school, high school girl going through that, I think this will be great words to hear. 

Shifting gears, Jenny. All right, let's go back to the beginning. Tell me about the moment you put your credit card down and you went to get new boobs.

Jenny McCarthy:

Oh my god. 

Kit Hoover:

How old were we? Where were we? Okay. And who did you tell?

Jenny McCarthy:

It was living in my neighborhood on the south side of Chicago. And one of the girls I know in the neighborhood came walking by with big old boobs. I'm like, what happened? Your boobs are gorgeous. And she's like, I found a doctor. He's uh, he's in Scottsdale and he's uh, he's um, he's 1500 bucks. I'm like, $1,500. That's crazy. I want new boobs. So I called, made an appointment, went out there, put it on my credit card, and I learned pretty quickly why it was $1,500 <laugh>. There was no anesthesia. So I was, I was awake during the surgery and it was like, what it was, I'm not even sure. I'm hoping he was a doctor. Now look at me, <laugh>,

Kit Hoover:

You're at the mall!

Jenny McCarthy:

I woke up, like they gave me like a Xanax or something and so I was kind of relaxed and then I opened up my eyes and I was like, uh, I can feel I'm awake. I could feel everything. And they're like, yeah, just relax. We've just, we're almost done with the first boob. And I'm like, just relax. I'm like freaked out. And then your arms are tied like this. And kinda like if anyone had a c-section, that's how your arms are tied down. Like, like Jesus on the cross laying down. And then when you get a boob job, they have a pedal on the table that makes you rise up. So now you're really looking like Jesus on the cross <laugh>, no disrespect to Jesus. I'm just using the analogy.

Kit Hoover:

With Double D's.

Jenny McCarthy:

Yeah. Yeah. So then the doctors all go to the other side of the room and they stare at you like this to make sure your boobs are, even if they have to move 'em around, if one's bigger than the other, I'm awake for all of this. This is why I know this happens. Because I was going, what the fuck.

Kit Hoover:

No, wait, how old were you at this time? 

Jenny McCarthy:

I was 19.

Kit Hoover:

19. Did you have cute boobs before? Like looking back? 

Jenny McCarthy:

I had perfect boobs. Even the doctor was like, your boobs are kind of great. I was like, I know, but the boys like bigger ones. It was a societal thing that, you know, I watched too much Benny Hill growing up for anyone <laugh>. It's like, oh, boobs have power, you know? And so if I could go back and undo it, I would. But you know, it's, everything happens the way it's supposed to happen and go figure. I come home and decide to start trying to get into show business and modeling and send my picture out. And I wound up getting to Playboy and they're like, Hef decided he doesn't want anyone with fake boobs anymore. I was like, <laugh> what? Say what? I'm like, it's so new. I still had stretch marks, you know what I mean? I was like, huh. But they still granted me a, um, a quick photo shoot and a bikini and then they called me back. So like, this girl is the true meaning of girl next door because I have never shaved in my life. So my bush was like <laugh>, it was like a, a tree. It was just, it was enormous. An enormous bush. And then I had one eyebrow I never plucked in my life. So they were like, and she's like, what they want is girl next door. They don't want stripper, you know, that's, he wanted to move away from implants. But they gave me the opportunity. And fortunately it worked out. 

Kit Hoover:

First of all, nobody shaved in the nineties, right?

Jenny McCarthy:

Someone will come over for an autograph and go, can you sign the centerfold? And my sister was like, oh my, I can't believe in public you let people see that. I'm like, Hey, you know what, at least I didn't see a lot of labia because it was my bush!

Kit Hoover:

It was the style. Okay, wait. And then I love, in your book reading, did you walk in without an appointment to Playboy or in my mind you got the boobs and you walked straight in. And I know that's not how it happened, but tell me how it went down.

Jenny McCarthy:

I dropped out of college 'cause I couldn't afford it anymore. So I went two years and I was at home going like, what am I gonna do now? I might as well try like a dream. So I took the yellow pages out and I found all these like agencies and I was like, I took my Polaroid camera and just did like 70 Polaroids. I wrote a letter stuck in an envelope, and I mailed out 70. I got one reply, one reply that said, come downtown to meet with our agents. And I was like, oh great. I took the bus there, I borrowed something from JC Penney's with the tag still on and went in and the lady was like, I brought you down here to tell you that you should not do this. You, you'll never be a model and that you should just serve beer in a bar.

Kit Hoover:

Oh

Jenny McCarthy:

My gosh. I was so devastated. 'cause of course I told all my friends and family, like a big agency is taking me in Chicago. I'm going down for a meeting. And so I left there crying on the curb. I literally was sitting on the curb like, so a mess. And I looked up and across the street was the Playboy building with a little bunny outside. And I remember going, I can't do that 'cause my mom will kill me. I'm Irish Catholic. Like I have three aunts that are nuns, four uncles that are priests. Like I'll be disowned. And I still thought I was gonna burn in hell, but I, all of a sudden my body's stood up and I started walking across the street and I'm like, what am I doing? It was so like, someone took control of me and like pushed my finger on the button, went upstairs and went to the front desk and was like, hi, um, how do people become Playmates?

And she said, not by walking in here <laugh>, you have to send in photos and then they'll decide if they wanna have you come in for a meeting or so I was like, okay. And she's like, we get a million photos a year. I'm like, okay. So I turned around, pressed the button to go and it just so happens, this is where like synchronicity. 

Kit Hoover:

Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, 

Jenny McCarthy: 

I believe in the senior editor of magazine was walking past the hallway and he sees this like nervous blonde girl standing there with her little portfolio book of my garage photos, garage meeting. I stood by the garage to take all my Polaroid photos.

Kit Hoover:

Very exotic.

Jenny McCarthy:

Very. And so then he said, Hey, are you wanting to become a Olaymate? And I was like, I, I was just inquiring. And he goes, we have a photo shoot happening if you wanna throw on a bikini and you know, do a little just shot. We can submit that. And I was like, okay. And then I thought to myself, I hadn't shaved my legs, I didn't shave my arms <laugh> and forget

Kit Hoover:

The bush <laugh>.

Jenny McCarthy:

At least I would've trim the outers, you know what I mean? Like the side. So the hair's not sticking out. So I'm in the back, all of a sudden I went from crying, being rejected over there to putting on this bikini going like, what the hell is happening? So I go out on the set. I've never been on a set before. So they're like, they tell the one model to move away and they're like, okay, do a pose. And I'm like, oppose <laugh>. So I just did like mugshots. I literally was like this. And I turned and I turned and they're like, okay. I got back on the city bus and by the time I got home my answering machine, they were like, we're gonna give you an official test for Miss October. Wow. And I was like, oh, oh, now I have to tell my parents. And then it just went from there.

Kit Hoover:

Jenny, for our listeners that maybe don't even like to get nude in front of their partner, like what is it like to get nude in front for a photo shoot?

Jenny McCarthy:

Horrific. Horrible. <laugh> traumatizing. Terrible. I mean, I had one boyfriend the whole time, so he was like six year relationship. He, he was the only person that saw me naked. I don't even know know if I've gone to a gynecologist at this point in my life. It was very scary, you know? So the part I didn't like was like craft service guy being there watching the, the grips that, and Playboy does this special lighting where they'll take like just a tiny sliver of a light and light the bush. Oh god. A nipple. So you have a guy staring at your nipple as you're standing there going like, this is terrible. Oh my gosh. Then I had, this is where I learned what Mason brushes were. I was standing in my pose and you can't move for like eight hours when you're shooting the centerfold one. You're just like stuck. And this makeup artist walks over and she's like, fluff, fluff, fluff. 

Kit Hoover:

Oh my God. <laugh>.

Jenny McCarthy:

And I was like, oh my, she just worked my bush with a Mason Pearson brush. That's

Kit Hoover:

A real fluffer <laugh>.

Jenny McCarthy:

A real fluffer. That's absolutely right. It was, it was really, really scary. But those people stare at you when you're naked is very disconcerting. 

Kit Hoover:

Would you ever pose for Playboy again today in your fifties?

Jenny McCarthy:

The closest I got to it was doing the skims ad this past summer with Carmen Electra,

Kit Hoover:

Which is gorgeous. Yep.

Jenny McCarthy:

You know, so I'm like, ah, that's, that's good enough. And no one wants to see my C-section and Bush now <laugh>,

Kit Hoover:

I beg to differ. Those are our warrior scars. 

Jenny McCarthy:

Thank you Jenny. 

Kit Hoover: 

I was gonna ask you one more question about the Playboy mansion. What was the deal with Hef?

Jenny McCarthy:

Everyone was like, you're gonna have to sleep with Hef, you're gonna have to sleep to Hef. I'm like, no, I don't wanna sleep with anybody. If I to sleep with anybody I'm not gonna make it. So I went in with that intention. But they put you in a guard shack that's next to the house that is a small guard shack and that's where they keep all the dogs. The dog cages are just outside. So it's like a very weird little place. So I checked in, there was a girl that was hot waxing her poon, <laugh>. And I was like, this is all very weird. The phone rings and I answer it and it's a man. He is like, Hey this is Frank Stallone. Oh is there a new, any new Playmates that just checked in? And I'm like, um, I, I'm new. He's like, oh yeah, where are you from? I'm like, I'm from Chicago <laugh>, south side of Chicago. And he's like, uh, you wanna go out sometime? I'm like, no. Now I have a boyfrien…click. I'm like, then the phone rings again and it's all these kind of weird celebrities. Have you noticed I said Frank Stallone? Yeah.

Kit Hoover:

So not even Sylvester Stallone, that's his brother.

Jenny McCarthy:

Right, right, right. It was mind boggling to me to see all these like 90-year-old men that were trying to work it with the girls.

Kit Hoover:

Well what's great about all of that is it led to Singled Out. They turned you down 10 times. 

Jenny McCarthy:

Yeah. 

Kit Hoover: 

Why did they turn you down and how did you know that this is what you needed to get?

Jenny McCarthy:

So when I was finishing up my Playmate of the Year duties at Playboy, someone asked me what I wanna do next. And I said, I wanna kind of get into comedy, I wanna host, I wanna, I wanna want to dabble a little in everything. And they go, Playmates aren't funny. And I'm like, well I'm not a comedian but I'm goofy. And I like to make people laugh in any way possible. And they're like, just shut up and go get some modeling jobs. I'm like, oh they don't know me like I'm a manifester. So I remember putting out to the universe of like, God, it would be great if I got an MTV because then I can show my personality whether it's a VJ or something. So they had an open cattle call, which means 400 girls were lined up around the block. So I got in that line and I didn't have a headshot, like an acting headshot or anything. So I just drew a picture of myself as Lucy from Charlie Brown with a big mouth and the sun. 

Kit Hoover:

Oh you meant Lucille Ball, you went Lucy from Peanuts.

Jenny McCarthy:

Totally <laugh>. And they're like never, our sponsors will never ever let a Playmate in. So I just disguised myself and just went in until it came down to the final like two. And they were like, are you that playmate that kept trying to call and get in here? I was like, yeah. And um, I kind of just proved to them in those final auditions 'cause there was like 15 different callbacks that I was the right person for the job. I was like, listen, I don't plan on whipping my clothes off during the show. Like yeah, you gotta gimme this opportunity like I'm a ballbuster. 

Kit Hoover:

What would you say is your rose and your thorn of your career? You've done a thousand things.

Jenny McCarthy:

The rose back then, if I talk history would be Singled Out for sure and my sketch show. Yeah. My MTV days. No, no doubt. 

Kit Hoover:

The Jenny McCarthy show was great.

Jenny McCarthy:

I love that sketch show so much. And then the thorn would obviously be The View that was really tough because if you looked at my work and my history, I'm light and fluffy like I'm fun, I'm like a pop culture fun kind of a girl. And that's what I was hired to do on The View. And it wasn't until the first week that they decided, 'cause Barbara did not know the pop culture people. But after one week Barbara was like, we're going back to politics. I'm like, okay. Ah, <laugh>. I know nothing about politics. And also I'm not a fighter. Like I always try to bring peace because there was chaos in my life growing up when I was younger. It scares me. It's 'cause it is kind of bullying, you know? And they hype you up backstage to kind of go after that person. And I, I had my cells were not cut out for that at all. And it was tough. I like, I had like cold sores, I had tumors like growing. I was like, this is, this is really bad. I'm just, I couldn't take it.

Kit Hoover:

Wait, Jenny. The same for me. They had me in at The View at the time. All I did was agree with everybody. I'm like, yep. Star. Yep. Oh Barbara, you in the back. Meredith. Yes. I mean I was like, I just agreed with them all. I don't wanna fight <laugh>. 

Jenny McCarthy:

Thank God you did not do it.

Kit Hoover:

Can you imagine me on there? You held your own. You did really great and Barbara loved you.

Jenny McCarthy:

Barbara did love me and I love Barbara. You know we, we had a great relationship which was sweet and I kind of looked out for her as much as I can.

Kit Hoover:

Let's talk about your manifestation. You manifested the Masked Singer, which has been, I mean we're coming into our 11th season. How do you manifest things? 

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Kit Hoover: 

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And now back to The Coop. 

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Kit Hoover:

How do you manifest things?

Jenny McCarthy:

There's, it's a three combination. It's, it's thinking it, so it's your imagination and then it's feeling it. What does it feel like to already have it to be in it? So I'm like, I picture myself doing it and what does it feel like? I go, oh it feels so good. I'm having so much fun I feel and I'm going through it. So you have to really imagine yourself and feel the emotions. Then the last step is action. So for instance, if I used my story of just wanting get in the industry, I took Polaroids of myself. Now the, the odds of me getting to where I did were so enormous, I probably would've better odds being struck by lightning. I used Polaroid pictures, stuck them in an envelope. I just so happened to get denied from this lady. I could have just been a local model and been fine with it, but it forced me to go across the street.

And so action, action made the, the imagination and the feelings all line up together. So I was, you know, drove my U-Haul all the way out to LA and I was like, oh, I'm gonna do that again. I'm gonna imagine the feeling of making it and not being someone that gets chewed up and spit out. I'm gonna feel the feeling. And by the time I got to LA I was standing on the roof of the Playboy building and I looked at the Hollywood sign, you could see it from there. And I just did an overwhelming feeling. Okay, I don't know how it's going to happen. I trust that the universe will guide me there as long as I stay connected to the imagination, the feeling and the actions. 

Kit Hoover:

What did you see with The Masked Singer? What was it about this show that you manifested?

Jenny McCarthy:

The show? For me, I would love doing serious radio. It was really great to have long form interviews and get to know people and talk. Um, but I also missed being seen. I'm a colorful kind of personality so I'm like, I literally said it'd be great if I could just maybe find a game show that becomes hugely popular where I can be myself, no one wants to change me and maybe I could show even a different side, maybe a smart side. And I always tell my agent to set me up on some generals. So I blew out to LA did these general meetings where you just sit on a couch and you talk to the people. And then like two months later we got a call that said, Hey we have this game show called Masked Singer And I was like, okay. So it's, it requires the action. I think that that's what people are missing. You know, I called it the couch potato syndrome where you can just dream it. Like I used to be a huge stoner in college and I used to sit there and like, oh and just like, oh I'm doing so many things. I wasn't doing anything. It was all happening in my brain but I wasn't putting action towards it.

Kit Hoover:

Speaking of action, you have always been a warrior mom for your son Evan, what does that title mean to you?

Jenny McCarthy:

Warrior mom is something that obviously kicks in at a certain point. If it doesn't happen immediately, it happens at some point. Whether your child is bullied or is depressed or has an ailments, you have this innate like power that becomes activated in you that you didn't know existed. It literally comes from the divine. I felt it. Like I literally, if you can feel energy, I felt it happen in me. It's like someone handed me my cape for the first time and I was like, yes, yes I can do this. I can handle anything and I'm gonna be there for my son. I just telling him yesterday 'cause he is now 6’3. Oh my gosh. And I was rubbing his head. I go, I used to rub your head when you were just a little baby and say, I'm gonna be the best mama I can, I'm gonna be the best mama ever. And he's like, and you are, you know, it's the sweetest relationship. But I just told the other day, I'm like, I don't want you ever to move out. I want you to live with me forever. And he goes, I'll give you two more years. <laugh>.

Kit Hoover:

How old is he now?

Jenny McCarthy:

21. He'll be 22 in May.

Kit Hoover:

Has Evan ever googled you?

Jenny McCarthy:

This is a great story. And now he is maybe 13, maybe 12. And I'm at home and he goes, mom, can you come here a second? And I was like, okay. So I come there and he goes, um, he didn't necessarily Google me. He googled him.

Kit Hoover:

Oh…

Jenny McCarthy:

And he wasn't aware of this giant thing that I did and I was always concerned when he was younger. Like I'm like, I didn't really get his permission to go out and be like, hey my son got autism and this is how I helped his booboos feel better. I did it trusting that it was the right thing to do. Like I felt it. And so he's like, what is all this, all these TV shows that you're talking about me. Like he knew about the autism diagnosis but he didn't know I publicly and wrote all these books and did all this work. And I was like, oh wow. I have to sit down with him and have this conversation and say, you know, I hope it's okay when I share with you these stories. And in fact I saved thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of letters from parents around the world that then when I initially came out that said, oh my god, thank you…I started the gluten-free diet. My kid started talking like got better and all of these letters written to me in Evan and I brought them all out of my chest and put them on the table and I go, I want you to see the impact of what you did to help so many families that might have, you know, children with autism. 

Mind you, autism, nothing wrong with autism. The neurodivergent part of it is beautiful. These kids are higher dimensional beings. I believe that thing that I always wanted to fix and still do are the comorbidities that are associated with it. Seizures, yeah. Those are leaky guts. That is Crohn's disease. They have a lot of gut infections and we noticed when we healed the gut it clears their mind. So I explained to him that and he got it so quickly and was like, this is beautiful. I'm so glad we were able to help some people. Like that's right. And then I said, don't you ever Google me my name <laugh>.

Kit Hoover:

Oh my God I can't wait to meet him Jenny.

Jenny McCarthy:

Oh my god, you are going to be blown away by his light. Ugh. He's like a light bulb. You're gonna be like, oh my god.

Kit Hoover:

Okay, hang on. And isn't Evan helping out as a PA at the Masked Singer?

Jenny McCarthy:

He did a lot of behind the scenes stuff. The audience warmup. He brought in the audience.

Kit Hoover:

What? That's a huge job!

Jenny McCarthy:

Well there was a, there was a guy that does the audience warmup but they would brought Evan in to actually hype them up as well. So Evan was like dancing in the middle of the stage. <laugh> hyping everybody up, throwing out T-shirts. And it was so cute 'cause he wore a little walkie-talkie with an earpiece and was like in full glory. It really made a difference. Like for parents that are scared for their kids to maybe get a job that might have special needs or something. It's the most empowering thing to watch happen 'cause it took him to a whole other level. He's like, I feel smart, I feel important. I'm like, you are even without this. But I'm glad you feel it now. So it's gonna be a special season this year watching it. 'cause I know he was off to the side and it's another reason why I couldn't be too mean to Ken <laugh>. 'cause my son is a very sensitive flower and he doesn't like, you can't like, it's like an empath, a super, super empath. I think all of these kids, by the way, are empaths. Like they can't take, they're the canaries in the coal mine for a lot of reasons. You know what I mean?

Kit Hoover:

I can't wait. I'm gonna eat 'em up. Jenny, would you like to play a little game? 

Jenny McCarthy:

Sure.

Kit Hoover: 

Okay. It's called, Let's Get Random. Here we go. What would people be surprised to know about you?

Jenny McCarthy:

But I'm actually quite boring.

Kit Hoover:

<laugh>. I don't buy that one. I don't buy that one.

Jenny McCarthy:

Maybe that I am really deep into spirituality. Like I did sweat lodges for 10 years with the little Cherokee tribe and I do these little spiritual kind of getaways and cleanses and that's not really surprising, but I am profoundly into spirituality.

Kit Hoover:

Goes back to your word peaceful.

Jenny McCarthy:

Yeah, that's true.

Kit Hoover:

Have you ever been rejected by a guy?

Jenny McCarthy:

Oh my god, plenty.

Kit Hoover:

No way.

Jenny McCarthy:

Oh my God. Yes. It's been And it was horrible. I hated it. I was even stood up, not stood up, but uh, really quick. This was back in my college days. Um, I went home with a guy, I never did like a one night stand and I was a little buzzed and I was like, all right, I'll go home with this cute guy. Wound up sleeping with him and he was in his place and he goes, I'm hungry, you want me to grab you McDonald's across the street? And I saw the golden arches. I'm like, yeah, get me a Big Mac with extra sauce. So I'm waiting, he leaves and I'm waiting and I'm waiting. He never kind of came back. What I had to do, a walk of shame home and just the golden arches went out, the lights went on. I'm like, it's been an hour. What? He just ditched me in his own apartment. One boy that broke up with me 'cause I was wearing a cross your heart bra. He came up to me in a bar and asked to buy me a drink. And I said, <laugh>, no

Kit Hoover:

<laugh>. Speaking of the cross your heart bra, do you still have the same boobs that we got back in Arizona all those years ago?

Jenny McCarthy:

No. So I had, uh, I had my boobs. I always thought they were too big. I hated when the guy did 'em. I was like, what? I asked for a C'S and he gave me like double D's and he is like, everyone wants 'em bigger. I'm like, I didn't. So I had to live with those until I got, you know, money. And then before I had Evan, I downsized into a decent size. And then after I had Evan and many years went by, they were so soupy, they were like zucchinis. So I was like, I don't wanna do a lift, but I will go bigger just to fill in the gap. Now I'm trying to find a doctor to take me back down again and do the whole lift. 'cause I mean I honestly, I would take them out if they weren't so zucchini and grossed out. But I'm gonna go much smaller 'cause they're just, they're just in the way. I don't need 'em. They're hard. I'm like…

Kit Hoover:

You're gonna go back to your original, the greatest boobs of all time. Okay, Jenny, I was fascinated to read that you love reading about near-death experiences. 

Jenny McCarthy:

Addicted. 

Kit Hoover:

Addicted. Have you ever like had one or what's the closest you've gotten to like spirits?

Jenny McCarthy:

Many. I haven't had a near death experience, although I almost died a couple of times. But I didn't leave my body in the sense that the way people describe with near death experiences.

Kit Hoover:

Wait, how did you almost die?

Jenny McCarthy:

I was on the set of Diamonds, which is a movie where I met my ex-husband and I was in my trailer. I was in the makeup of trailer going, I don't really feel so good, I need to go lay down. And I went in my trailer and I laid down. I'm like, oh, I'm feeling worse and worse. I'm like, I'm gonna try to sleep. But I, I just remember being like, I'm like can't breathe. All of a sudden I opened up the door to my trailer. Mind you, it's zero degrees in Reno and I'm dressed like a hooker 'cause that was my role. <laugh> and I, the once the air hit me, I rolled out of the trailer and went into convulsions. What? I opened up my eyes and Dan Aykroyd is above me 'cause he was in the movie with Lauren Bacal and Kirk Douglas. And they're, he's screaming for help screaming on the top of his lungs. And I, I don't know what's going on. I just know my body is literally convulsing. Apparently the teamsters, 'cause it was so cold, they took hefty bags and they taped the bottom of the trailers to the ground without putting the exhaust pipe outside. So we were all being gassed. The makeup trailer that I left, they were outside puking. I went in to try to take a nap so I got an extra half an hour of it. 

Kit Hoover:

Oh my gosh.

Jenny McCarthy:

So the ambulance came and I went to the hospital and they tested my blood and they're like, damn, you got hit hard and convulsions is the sign right before you die. So,

Kit Hoover:

Oh my gosh.

Jenny McCarthy:

Thank God I opened up the, the door.

Kit Hoover:

Thank God Dan Aykroyd was right.

Jenny McCarthy:

<laugh> right screaming for help. Thank God.

Kit Hoover:

Wait, was there another that what you said there was multiple, what else?

Jenny McCarthy:

Oh yeah. Oh, then um, I choked on a piece of candy when I was little. That was like a big ball. And I was like, and I'm my sister's yelling at me going, stop being stupid. Stop it. I'm trying to tell her to get help. My mom was, I didn't know where she was in the house and I can feel myself slowly going. I was like, okay, I'm about to die. Oh god. And then all of a sudden my body gets lifted up and I'm being dragged outside and my mom's doing the maneuver and screaming and everyone in the whole neighbor comes running out, running out. Now I'm starting to pass out losing consciousness and all of a sudden go, go, this giant piece of candy came out and I survived it.

Kit Hoover:

Oh my gosh

Jenny McCarthy:

Then I was hit by a car and I flew in the air like 60 miles an hour. I was on my 10 speed. And I literally, I remember this flying in the air and I'm being, I'm going towards the ground and I swear I felt I was caught and placed. I didn't have a bruise on my body. You turn around and my 10 speed was crunched in a ball. I didn't have one mark on my body. And I was like, my mom came running out 'cause it happened in front of her. And she's like, and I'm like, mom, I, there's nothing on me. I was totally protected. I'm like, my guardian angels are so tired.

Kit Hoover:

But Jenny, no one survives a 10 speed hit.

Jenny McCarthy:

No 60 miles an hour. It was crazy.

Kit Hoover:

Who hit you?

Jenny McCarthy:

Some, some dude that owns a VH that owned a VHS shop back in the day, <laugh>. But those near death experience, I, I was addicted to those books when I first moved out to LA I went to the Psychic Eye Books Shop and lived there and like absorbed it all. And then when YouTube came around, I, I can tell you I watched every near-death experience video on YouTube that it brings me a sense of peace knowing that there's a consistent story that matches everybody of this place that's even better. That people don't wanna come back. That's what's mind boggling to me. They could be leaving behind their family and their kids and be like, I don't wanna go back. I don't wanna go back because it's so beautiful and of the light.

Kit Hoover:

I love hearing that. Hang on back to the game. Shit you threw me off my game with these near death ones. Here we go. What is in your bedside drawer?

Jenny McCarthy:

Um, okay so I have some uh, gummies and I have my vibrator pocket rocket. I'm being totally honest. <laugh>, I have a couple of books there. I always keep an Eckhart Tolle power versus force is another good one that's always next to my bedside table and my eye mask and that's about it.

Kit Hoover:

That might be the greatest bedside drawer we've had so far. What do you do to blow off steam?

Jenny McCarthy:

I garden. I love to like really get in there. This house that I'm in right now, Donnie actually, I don't think I talked about this yet, but I kept eyeing this house that I wanted to flip 'cause it was like a 1970s ranch house and I'm like, I really wanna flip this house. Will you go have these on me so I can have something to do? 'cause I have so much energy in between Masked Singer. And so he's like, yeah, I'll go half with you. And it was my 50th birthday and he handed me the keys and said Happy birthday.

Kit Hoover:

Oh my God, that's so beautiful.

Jenny McCarthy:

Right? So my letting off steam is doing more work, but I love it. I gardened everything outside. I helped on the inside like gutting it and I just, I just love, I'm like a true tradesman. Like I did my own pathway. Like literally I went to a quarry, I got stones loaded 'em in the truck. I made a brick pathway on my own. I did it all. It's just like I love hard labor. Is that weird or what?

Kit Hoover:

Okay, fill in the blank. Aging is what to you.

Jenny McCarthy:

Aging is.. love your questions… They're so beautiful. <inaudible> is exciting.

Kit Hoover:

Perfect word. Why?

Jenny McCarthy:

I feel like there's more wisdom of course that comes with it. So I'm like, I look at my forward, I go wow, if I feel like I'm wise now, I can't imagine when I'm 80 looking back with all the wisdom that I have. And I love wisdom. I love going deep, you know, so that's really exciting to me. Plus I also love like biohacking my health. I like finding out the new things and maybe paving a way for people and women behind me. Like just getting on the bioidentical hormones for menopause and sharing that information of like, oh my God, it has saved me. And things like that excite me to turn around and then teach others.

Kit Hoover:

Tina Turner told me, she says she wanted to age gratefully, not gracefully. Gratefully isn't that beautiful?

Jenny McCarthy:

That wins. 

Kit Hoover:

That wins. We can do that. With your Formless Beauty, one of your new passion projects, what is the meaning behind the name?

Jenny McCarthy:

Okay, so I'm a big fan of Eckhart Tolle who is a spiritual teacher and he always used the word formless to define who our true essence is because we are not the physical body. We are spirits, souls having a human experience. So he always referred to that, that I am as formless. So when I started my makeup company, I was like, I need a word that resonates in reminding women that even though it's about makeup, that real beauty, true beauty is formless. That's where real beauty comes from. Makeup is just the cherry on top. So I wanted to keep the intentions going, keep it pure and leave something behind for humanity that I can get behind and say, you know what? I did something good here. I follow the EWG guidelines, which I dare any other celebrity alliance to do because there's 900 pages of unacceptable ingredients that we follow. 'cause a lot of people are using that term clean beauty right now and it's just not true.

Kit Hoover:

It ain't clean.

Jenny McCarthy:

And I don't want to, I don't wanna diss other companies 'cause we need, we need all, I wanna service the people who want those lids that are transparent, that are good for you and that you can allow your daughter to use. Because there's so many hormone disruptors and makeup and even still formaldehyde and shit like that. Sorry. No, someone has to do it.

Kit Hoover:

By the way, I love your affirmations on your lip gloss. I am wearing Euphoria, my favorite wine and I'm obsessed with your mascara and so are my daughters. Where can people find Formless Beauty?

Jenny McCarthy:

If you go to formlessbeauty.com. We're not in any stores yet because I don't have that kind of VC capital yet, nor do I want it. So it's slowly but surely you can feel how it resonates. You are like, I know this is good 'cause it is good. So check out the website and try on some of the products.

Kit Hoover:

What are you manifesting next?

Jenny McCarthy:

Okay, so I, I have, I had something that popped in my head that's still half cooking, so I totally, the universe, I don't know if I want it yet, but it just popped in there of like, oh that would be fun. It always starts with, that would be fun to do. Because I feel like it takes the pressure off the universe and myself. It's like keeping it light and fluffy and from the heart space. That's what I'm saying. It's from the heart chakra space.

Kit Hoover:

Can you give us a teaser? Oh, you're gonna tell us. Okay, good. I thought you were gonna hide it. 

Jenny McCarthy:

Yeah, so my idea that's half baked right now, wouldn't it be fun to maybe do a show with Donnie that is kind of like, it's a show that I called like in my head on the Rocks and it's a aging boy bander and a former aging playmate who are totally the, the ego-driven version of us who are desperate to hold onto their fame, their looks. And they go on to every kind of possible thing to exploit that they, even their publicist convinces them to move to a small town kinda like Schitt's Creek because their stars will shine brighter there. Oh and she, my character keeps trying to like, sell pictures of them and you know, just like I'm cooking it right now. Yeah. But I'm like,

Kit Hoover:

Oh, I can totally see this.

Jenny McCarthy:

It's a scripted show. 'cause we were gonna be, I want it to be kind of like, just like Schitt's Creek. The characters are so like out there but fun. And again, this is half baked. 'cause Donnie, you know, who knows what Blue Bloods could surprise us all and go another 10 years. But uh, I'm cooking it up. So you never know.

Kit Hoover:

You literally glow, you light up When you talk about Donnie, why was he the right time and the right one for you?

Jenny McCarthy:

I went on a year hiatus of being, I was like, I'm not gonna date anyone. I'm gonna be celibate. I'm gonna work on me. I'm gonna see what, 'cause I wasn't in the best relationship, so I'm like, what do I keep repeating? The common denominator is always yourself. So I realized I had to really work on self-love. Like, I really had to go deep and I didn't even understand the meaning of it. I was like reading books, like how do you find it? Like asking people. And my realization was, I already am love. There's no seeking. We are divinity. We are, we are love. And so doing that work for a full year, I put out to the universe, you know, maybe I might be ready, but I don't want anyone half baked. I need them fully baked. I need them to meet me where I'm at now.

Because I would get in relationships and always have to downshift like a gear in a car. I'd always have to go, I'd always be here. And then they wouldn't be. So I'd go, mm, let me lower my light, let me lower my frequency. Let, he's not there yet. And I'm like, I'm not doing that anymore. I, they gotta, they gotta meet me here. And um, I interviewed Donnie on my show and I was like, oh he's cute. And then I'm like, oh he's funny. Oh he is smart. Oh he's got a nice butt <laugh>. Oh single. It was like all these things. And I was like, I know I'm gonna give my phone number. And I kind of knew though right after that interview, the interview was supposed to be six minutes long. It was 90 minutes. What?

Kit Hoover:

And did he feel it right then too?

Jenny McCarthy:

He did. He stuck around afterwards. 'cause I gave his assistant my phone number. But then I ran in my dressing room and I was beat red and I was like, oh my god, oh my god, I'm feel like Marsha Brady or Jan Brady, like, I'm flushed. I haven't felt this long and, and ever since high school and oh my God. And they're like, I think he's out there waiting for you. I'm like, I can't see him. I don't, I'm like, I was a bumbling idiot. So I like hid in my dressing room for an hour and he still didn't leave. And I was like, what the hell's going on? He needs to leave. I can't talk. I'm so embarrassed. He, he, he, well he thought I just gave my phone number out to everybody. I'd never given my phone number to a guy. And so it took him two weeks to call me back.

So I was like, what the heck? But he saw an ad, a commercial run for the show where I had a psychic on the next week and they're like talking about my love life. And I go, am I gonna marry Donnie Wahlberg? And the psychic goes, yeah, actually <laugh>. And it cut to the commercial. And so he wound up calling, going like, I saw that ad at your show. And I go, I almost gave up on you because 14 days is a little rude. And he goes, I thought you were just being nice. So then we went on a date and it was happily after. What's

Kit Hoover:

The biggest misconception about you?

Jenny McCarthy:

That I am a wild child. That I might be slutty or crude. Like I know even Donnie was like, he's like, I was a little worried that they always think they're gonna get singled out. Jenny, when I used to manhandle the guys or like when people cook, some girls come up to me and they're wasted in a bar and, and God bless 'em 'cause I love all women, but they'd be like flashing their boobs and I'm like, that's a character. You know, that's a character. I I I do. And it's part of me. Don't get me wrong, I have that side. That's fun. But I'm not that, I'm not a slut. I'm a serial monogamous <laugh>.

Kit Hoover:

I love seeing you so happy. And speaking of that, the last question we ask everybody in the coop, Jenny, what makes you happy?

Jenny McCarthy:

I love your questions. What makes me happy? Um, being surrounded by my family. When I have Evan in the house and Donnie in the house, I am needless in the universe. People are always like fearful about this, you know, cyber attack and what if we have to be off grid and live. I'm like, I'm fine, I'm fine. Like I have the two loves of my life. I'm happy. So, and our health, good health makes me happy as well.

Kit Hoover:

Well, you've got it all. And thank you so much my friend. I hope you enjoyed this.

Jenny McCarthy:

Can I tell you, I have to interrupt because I've done 30 years of interviews by far my favorite interview I've ever done. Your questions are so good. They're so fun to answer. They're not surface level. You did your homework and they're just, they're mind expanding, soul expanding and like you're my last interview of the day and it's just gonna glide me into the happiest evening. I I honestly, if you ever need anything from me, if you ever need I I'm, I'd give you a kidney or liver. You probably wouldn't want one, but you are, I would, you are a true star and so amazing at what you do And I'm just honored that I get to know you and hopefully you can be best friends now. 

Kit Hoover:

No, Jenny, thank you for saying this is why I wanted to do this podcast. I'm feeling at 53. I want more and this are the kind of conversations I wanna have. And it's also poignant and interesting to me. And I feel like I'm in a transition period, so I learned so much.

Jenny McCarthy:

A hundred percent. I just got the chills. And that's a confirmation. I feel like you have the capability of being the even better female Joe Rogan. We are missing that in the female space. In a hands down, if I were to put my money on somebody, it would be you. You've got it all. So keep going. I think you're onto something huge and I'm gonna spread the word. Everyone needs to do

Kit Hoover:

All <laugh>. I just love you. Keep kicking ass. I can't wait to see what you manifest next. Thank you for taking the time, my friend.

Jenny McCarthy:

You've got it. And I'll see you in LA

Kit Hoover:

Coop. There it is. Wow. Jenny McCarthy is so awesome. She's so enlightening. I got a lot of download to do from that one. I think I'm still reflecting on how she finally realized she didn't need to lower her frequency or light to those around her that they need to meet her where she is. And from there, as she said, that's where the magic happens. 

Wow, that's awesome. So ladies, great reminder, don't dim your light for anybody. 

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And great news Coop listeners, Jenny is giving y'all 10% off her formless beauty. Go to formlessbeauty.com and use the code COOP10. My favorite is the lip gloss and the mascara. You're going to love it. 

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Thank you for joining us, my chickens. If you liked this episode, please give us a five star rating, drop in a great review, and tag us @thecoopwithkithoover. See you next time in The Coop. 

And remember, as my mom Bug always says, life is not a dress rehearsal. Make it count. 

Today's episode was produced by me, Kit Hoover and Harper McDonald. Our technical producer is Christian Brown, and today's episode was edited by Christian Brown. Business Development by Casey Ladd. 

And a special thank you to all of our sponsors.