Jenny McCarthy asked Donnie Wahlberg to go to therapy with her before they had had their "first fight".
Jenny McCarthy
The 48-year-old star fell for the 'Blue Bloods' actor early on in their relationship and was so determined for things not to go wrong, she sought the help of a third party to help them learn to effectively communicate and work through any potential problems before they became a bigger issue.
Jenny - who married Donnie in 2014 - said on 'The Drew Barrymore Show': "Even Prince Charming and the fairy tale doesn't come without work.
"I loved him so much as soon as I met him, I was like, 'How do I not mess this up? I'm going to ask him, before we even have our first fight, if we can go to therapy together. He might think I'm crazy, but I want to be able to figure out some tools and discover how we both fight. Do both of us shut down if we're mad at each other, or does one need to communicate?' "
The former 'Singled Out' host admitted the decision has proven to be "priceless" for their relationship as they know how to tackle problems before they arise.
She added: "By sitting down with a therapist, and us figuring out, 'Oh, that's what you do when you fight—this is what I do.'
"And then the therapist gave us tools to say, 'OK, when this happens, this is what you do.' And I'm telling you, it was one of the greatest ideas ever to go to therapy before there's a problem, to figure out how to have those conversations with each other."
Even before she met Donnie, Jenny was having sessions with a therapist who helped her realise where she was going wrong with her dates.
She said: "My therapist said, 'Jenny you have this amazing ability to bleach red flags white. You don't even realise but you're justifying their bad behaviour."
The therapist tasked the star with going on 30 blind dates in a bid to recognise problems and she's glad she chose not to "settle" before finding love with her 51-year-old spouse.
She added: "Honestly it paid to wait, I'll tell you that. No more settling. I did my therapy, I paid my dues and then I found my Prince Charming."
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