Jenny McCarthy has opened up for the first time about a verbally abusive relationship she says "could have easily killed me."
The typically no-holds-barred Jenny didn't say who the relationship was with or when it occurred, but said it lasted four years.
"What I thought was gonna be a typical relationship, turned into a relationship that you would never think you would get yourself into. Especially me," she said while attending an event for a hair care product. "I mean, I really consider myself to be pretty strong-willed and confident, even back then. But I did find myself being slowly manipulated into a very, very dark, abusive — verbally abusive — relationship that could have easily killed me."
Naturally, the abuse affected her psyche.
"I no longer had my own thoughts," she said. "They were replaced with his thoughts about me. That I was worthless, disgusting, talentless, ugly, fat, smelled so badly. I was no longer worthy of being kissed."
After four years Jenny said she had had enough and was able to muster up the courage to leave him.
"I found my accountability in the hell I was living in. The path to loving yourself requires you to stop putting the blame on others and observe the choices you make that got you there," she said. "It wasn't his job to love me. It was mine. So I chose to finally get the hell out of that relationship. I chose to be powerful, not powerless."
Now she's found her happily ever after with her husband Donnie Wahlberg.
"I'm not joking when I say this," Jenny told Wonderwall.com in 2015. "He's the most romantic guy. At least once to twice a week he sends me flowers that say, 'Just Because' or 'Hi.' He surprises me at work, events, trips. I can't keep up with his romantic side."
Donnie, for his part, just shrugs at the notion that he is the pinnacle of romance, saying, "I don't feel like I'm doing anything special. I feel like she's special and I could do more."