IT'S ALWAYS A GOOD DAY WITH DONNIE!

Blue Bloods star Wahlberg shares his make-'em-laugh approach to the job-and reveals some show secrets too

- ILEANE RUDOLPH

"WHEN I SHOW up to work, I usually make an announcement of how lucky we are doing a show as beloved as Blue Bloods," Donnie Wahlberg says. Is this guy for real? Yes. Yes, he is. For the 53-yearold musician-actor-producer, making people happy and having fun doing it are life goals. No wonder his fans follow him through every turn in his career. They attend his New Kids on the Block concerts; spend their Friday nights with Wahlberg's Det. Danny Reagan and family on CBS's long-running Blue Bloods; and tune in to his chilling true crime series Very Scary People, which returns April 16 (9/8c) on its new channel, Investigation Discovery. TV GUIDE MAGAZINE spoke to Wahlberg about life offscreen and on.

From what I've observed on the set over the years and in your many social media posts, you are always upbeat.

It's a blessing to be part of something so successful that means so much to so many people. I dance around the seteven get Tom [Selleck] to do a little shoulder shake-sing a lot, laugh a lot, have fun. I'm sure that could be annoying, but I think it gets us through some of the long, tough days, when it's cold and uncomfortable. I'm incredibly optimistic because I'm incredibly grateful.

Does the show take fans into consideration when breaking storylines?