Donnie Wahlberg expressed his appreciation for his Blue Bloods co-star Tom Selleck as the show enters its final season. On Sunday, October 27, the New Kids on the Block member shared a heartwarming photo on his Instagram Stories featuring him and Tom, 79. The picture was taken during the Blue Bloods cast’s appearance at the Paley Center for Media on October 17. Wahlberg, 55, captioned the candid snapshot with, “Love this pic,” and added a blue heart emoji.
Recently, Donnie opened up about the emotional atmosphere on set during their last day of filming. “On the last day, I was shooting all my squad room scenes, where I hold court as Danny Reagan, and Tom Selleck came in just to watch,” he recounted during an appearance on SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live.
He shared how impactful Tom’s presence was: “When he shows up to watch you work and to say goodbye to everyone, and I’m filming the scenes, I’m already emotional. I look across the room and see him—he’s really tall, standing in the back corner with tears in his eyes. It just turned on the waterworks for me. I could literally cry just thinking about it.”
Reflecting on the final season, Wahlberg said he felt “tremendous gratitude, not sadness, but everyone was crying. Of course, the last day was heartbreaking.” However, he believes viewers will find satisfaction in the series finale.
“The audience will probably be happy. There will be a lot of tears—similar to the ones we had—but there’s a very sad scene that happens in the middle of the final episode, which will be very emotional,” he teased about the finale. “But I think the audience is going to be really happy because it feels like a finale, but a hopeful, forward-thinking finale.”
As for Tom, he admitted feeling “frustrated” about CBS’s decision to cancel the show, yet he remains optimistic about the future of broadcast television. “I have great faith in broadcast television. I think it’s suffered from being put in second or third place,” he stated during PaleyFest. “Not everyone wants to spend an hour searching their remote control for something to watch.”
He also noted the abundance of clichés in series television and how Blue Bloods addresses them. “By commenting on them, we connect with the audience,” he explained. “Magnum had voice-over narration, and we have an audience that knows a lot of secrets by the time we sit down for the family dinner that maybe everyone at that table does not. That sense of discovery—‘Hey, wait until he hears that’—is what makes it special.”
