Why Did Donnie Wahlberg and His First Wife Separate?

When Donnie Wahlberg and his first wife, Kim Fey, got married on August 22, 1999, fans rejoiced. 

They thought the couple would have a happily ever after, but alas, it was not meant to be. 

Wahlberg was a singer and a member of the boy band New Kids on the Block, which was extremely famous in the late 1980s and early 1990s. 

His first wife was a sound engineer, and as fate would have it, they met while working on one of the albums for the band. Fey was 22 years old at the time.

The pair formed a connection and eventually started dating. They dated for eight years and tied the knot. 

Donnie Wahlberg's first wife, Kim Fey (Source: Kim Fey/Instagram)

After marriage, they had two kids. Their first child, Xavier Alexander Wahlberg, was born in March 1993, while their second child, Elijah Hendrix Wahlberg, was born in August 2001.

But as their relationship progressed, things got strained. 

Donnie Wahlberg and His First Wife Divorced

It got so unpleasant that the couple filed for divorce in 2008, which was finalized in 2010. 

According to the divorce filings, the reason for their separation was stated as irreconcilable differences. 

However, fans speculated that the real reason for their divorce was because the boy band member was in a relationship with Canadian model Michelle Tomlinson. 

It was reported that besides seeking attorney's fees from the singer, Wahlberg's first wife also filed for sole physical and legal custody of their two sons with visitation rights for Wahlberg.

However, there are no further reports on how their separation was settled. But the couple reached an out-of-court settlement at a Ventura County courthouse.

A representative for Wahlberg told People that the couple remained friends. 

After the duo went their separate ways, Fey stayed away from the spotlight and lived a private life away from the prying eyes of the media. She is said to be single. 

As for Wahlberg, he moved on and married the comedian Jenny McCarthy in 2014. 

Donnie Wahlberg and Jenny McCarthy

Wahlberg and McCarthy first met on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen in 2012. 

Host Andy Cohen had encouraged the singer to ask the comedienne out, but he only made a move a year later when they reconnected on her show.

They eventually started dating, and in August 2014, Us Weekly broke the news that the couple had tied the knot in St. Charles, Ill., outside Chicago. 

It was an intimate affair, with only 90 guests in attendance. "I won the lottery," Wahlberg told the outlet. 

The duo does not have kids together, but in 2017, rumors sparked that McCarthy was pregnant. But these rumors were refuted by Wahlberg.  

He stated that they would love to have kids, but they had already shared three sons. McCarthy welcomed her only child, Evan, in 2002 with ex-husband, John Mallory Asher. 

As for how they made their relationship work, the Scream 3 actress opened up to Drew Barry on The Drew Barrymore Show in April 2021 that they went to therapy. 

The actress admitted that therapy allowed for their relationship to thrive.