Mark Wahlberg Reveals Unique Approach to How He Treats Daughters’ Boyfriends

You might think that Mark Wahlberg would be an intimidating figure to any of his daughters’ potential suitors. But, as it turns out, he gets along swimmingly with his daughter’s boyfriend. As Entertainment Tonight noted, Wahlberg posted a video of himself working out with his daughter Ella Rae’s boyfriend, proving that the pair are two gym rats in a pod. 

In the short clip, Wahlberg explains that his workouts have changed as of late. He said to the camera, “I used to work out to keep the boys away from my girl and now, I’m working out with the boyfriend. Imagine that. Self-made.” As he spoke to the camera, he walked over to his daughter’s boyfriend and gave him a pat on the back. The two donned matching Municipal T-shirts, repping a sports gear brand that the actor has partnered with. Wahlberg also captioned the video by writing, “Ella is a lucky girl and I’m a lucky dad! He is a great young man.”

Wahlberg shares four children with his wife Rhea Durham. They share daughters Ella, 18, and Grace, 12, and sons Michael, 15, and Brendan, 13. Interestingly enough, Wahlberg has addressed the topic of his daughters dating in the past. Back in 2017 during an appearance on Live With Kelly and Ryan, he said that he wanted to know what his daughter was out with and what his “parents like.” At that point, co-host Kelly Ripa joked that his daughter’s potential suitors might be “terrified” of him, to which he replied, “I would think so.” 

He also spoke about the topic to ET in late 2017 and said that he had to come around to the fact that his daughter would be entering the dating world. Wahlberg told the outlet, “You know what? I actually… I came to grips with the fact that she’s 14, she’s gonna have boyfriends. Those things happen.” Wahlberg once took things a step further when it comes to Ella’s dating life, as he actually crashed a date that she went on. The star reflected on the date during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show and joked that, in the end, everything worked out perfectly as he joked that his daughter’s date “one-upped” him by bringing his mom along.