Donnie Wahlberg ‘Didn’t Stop Crying’ for Hours After Filming Final ‘Blue Bloods’ Dinner Scene

Filming the final dinner scene on season 14 of Blue Bloods brought tears to Donnie Wahlberg’s eyes. The New Kids on the Block singer admitted that he was feeling all of the emotions before saying goodbye to his castmates.

Family dinners have become a staple for the Reagans through all 14 seasons of the show, as a way to bring them together, hash out their issues and have candid chats. But the final dinner scene of the franchise had quite a different tone.

“I remember showing up that morning and there were much, much more crew members watching than usual,” Donnie, 55, recalled during an interview with Entertainment Weekly published on December 7.

“There’s usually a lot, everyone comes in and watches the rehearsals and sometimes we’ll say a little something. I might say, ‘It’s going to be a great day’ and I’ll get everyone all fired up and stuff. We’ll improvise some lines just to get a few laughs and such,” he recalled. “But this day, I think everyone was really hanging on and again, trying to stay present and focus on the work and make sure we did the work well, but also trying not to get lost in the emotion of it all.”

But for the singer-songwriter, the moments that came after filming the final dinner scene are what he will “remember most.”

“We all just kind of sat there for a long time, and I think everyone was hesitating to say something to say goodbye because A, nobody wanted to, and B, everyone knew once somebody starts talking, it’s a wrap,” Donnie shared. “The tissues are coming out and everyone’s going to start crying, and sure enough they did.”

Tom Selleck addressed the group with a beautiful poem for their last hurrah after filming the scene.

“I remember Tom read a poem — or, he didn’t read it. He’d memorized the poem and recited it,” Donnie said. “He’s known the poem for years, and he did that from time to time. He would say a poem or he would quote some old famous saying or something. He would always just drop these sage little things upon us at dinner from time to time.”

Donnie said that he was “crying and didn’t stop for a few hours” because he “felt all the emotion of the crew and the rest of the cast members” and he thought about “how profound it was that somehow my life’s journey had taken me to this moment.”

And the final Reagan family dinner is sure to be memorable for fans too, as showrunner Kevin Wade teased some “black sheep” will be sitting at the dinner table during the series finale.

“There are a few black sheep, including one who’s been with us on and off for many years. I have to be vague here,” he told TV Insider on December 6. “There are blood relatives who we haven’t seen much of in a while who are present. I will say it’s a bigger table than usual. The art department had to actually go into the wood shop and make an extra leaf!”

Even though it’s the end of an incredible era for the Blue Bloods cast, Donnie is looking forward to fans seeing how the show concludes and is happy to have his supportive wife, Jenny McCarthy, by his side.

“Now, of course, it’s going to be tough,” he confessed. “I’m going to be laying down next to Jenny watching the finale, and the waterworks are going to turn on, and I’m just going to say, ‘How lucky was I to be part of something so cool?'”