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Jenny McCarthy covers the June issue of Shape. I believe this is her second time covering the fitness magazine, and this is a much less realistic image than her last cover, in January 2013. That image was heavily Photoshopped too, as is the norm for just about every magazine, but on this cover she looks like someone stuck her head on a plastic doll. Her torso is impossibly long.

Inside, Jenny talks about how her fiance, Donnie Wahlberg, proposed (she’s told that story before), how she felt when her son Evan, 12, was showing signs of what she calls autism, and how she keeps fit.

On how she keeps fit
The last time I weighed myself was 12 years ago, when I left the hospital with my newborn son, Evan, and I was 185 pounds. Now I measure by how my jeans fit. But I want to be real here and tell you that my weight goes up and down a lot. I was definitely up after the holidays last year, so I tried what everyone always says to do: running. I was on that treadmill every day for 45 minutes. I don’t do anything fancy with intervals to spike my pulse rate, because I have palpitations and my heart can’t handle the intensity. I did a moderate pace and kept it there the whole time. After a few weeks, the extra weight dropped off.

On her son not responding to her
When Evan was struggling with developmental issues, I was with him day and night, holding him, loving him, trying to get him to smile or say Mama, but he couldn’t and it was breaking my heart. One day, I called my mom crying and said, ‘He doesn’t even know I exist. I’m dying as a mother.’ And she said to me, ‘Jenny, everyone responds to love.’ And she was right. Maybe he couldn’t smile or say Mama, but he knew how I felt and he responded to my love. It was a beautiful epiphany.

On her fiance, Donnie Wahlberg
The very first time I saw him, I was in eighth grade and New Kids on the Block was on MTV. I was like, ‘Who are they? I thought Donnie was the hottest one but too tough for me, because I was this goody two-shoes. But now when I look at him, I think, ‘I’m totally marrying a New Kid on the Block.

One afternoon, my son walked into the living room with a piece of paper that read, ‘Will.’ He ran out, then he came back with another piece that said, ‘You.’ Then he came back with another piece that read, ‘Marry.’ Then Donnie walked in wearing a t-shirt that said, ‘Me?’

He was carrying the ring, he got down on his knee in front of Evan, and… I said yes.

[From Shape Magazine, print edition, June 2014]

Jenny can often be full of crap. She recently claimed that she’s not anti-vaccine, although she’s certainly said enough about it for anyone to draw that conclusion. However I was touched by the story of how her son wasn’t responding to her and how it was so frustrating to her as a mom. That got me a little.

There’s some controversy over whether Jenny’s son had autism which she claims to have cured him of, or if he had another, milder disorder called Landau-Kleffner syndrome. Jenny has dismissed those claims as “blatantly inaccurate and completely ridiculous” and clarified that her son was diagnosed with autism at UCLA. Whatever the case, I’m glad Evan is ok now. Evan’s diagnosis is so much of an issue because Jenny has made it one. He has a very outspoken and protective mom in his corner.

As for Jenny’s engagement to Donnie Wahlberg, I can see them lasting for another year or two but I don’t see her getting married. I shouldn’t be so negative. I hope for her son’s sake that this works out for Jenny and Donnie. Evan seems like he’s really attached to Donnie and vice versa.

Jenny is shown with her son on February 20. She’s shown alone on April 11 and with Donnie on May 15. Credit: WENN.com

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