Meet the partners of veteran boybanders Jonathan Knight, Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg and Danny Wood
New Kids on the Block are still hangin’ tough after all these years.
With their mega success in the ’90s, the influential group paved the way for the Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, One Direction and today’s K-pop superstars, while continuing to tour and record new music of their own, like their new album, Still Kids.
Along the way, singers Jonathan Knight, Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg and Danny Wood all found love, both from their adoring fans and in their personal lives.
With their new album promising plenty of love songs alongside pop anthems and dance tracks, here’s everything you need to know about the romantic partners who inspire NKOTB’s music.
Joey McIntyre
Before marrying Barrett Williams, Joey McIntyre was actually the former L.A. real estate agent’s very first client! A year after Williams found the singer the perfect home, the couple wed in 2003.
Joey and Barrett have three children, sons Griffin, 16, and Rhys, 14, and daughter Kira, who turns 13 later this month. Rhys was born with severe hearing loss, and Joey has since used his platform to raise awareness of the need to test children’s hearing early, recording a PSA for Hear the World in 2020. “Anything I can do for the hearing loss community is a privilege. I hope I can help by telling our story,” he said at the time. “When you go through something like this, you can feel very helpless and alone, but there is so much out there to get you through it all and lead you to a path that is right for your child.”
In 2017, Barrett and the three little McIntyres starred as themselves alongside Joey in the short-lived meta sitcom Return of the Mac on Pop. “It’s a wonderful thing,” Joey said of working with his young family. “We’ve been blessed and we love to create.”
In 2020, the couple and their three children moved from New York City to L.A. Last fall, Joey and Barrett shared a peek inside their beautiful 1939 French Normandy Revival house. “We totally pinch ourselves every day,” Joey told Architectural Digest of their home. “I’ve felt a lot of growth here in lots of ways — and we’re thrilled.”
Jordan Knight
Jordan Knight and wife Evelyn Melendez tend to keep a low profile — especially considering Jordan is one-fifth of one of the biggest musical acts ever! Neither is on social media, and Evelyn rarely appears with Jordan on the red carpet.
The couple married in 2004, and share two sons, 23-year-old Dante and 17-year-old Eric.
In 2007, a year before NKOTB got back together after disbanding in the mid-1990s, Jordan spoke about his decision to take time off from his career to focus on Evelyn and their sons. “There are a lot of doors open right now,” he said. “But I don’t want to do anything that will take me away from my family for very long. They’re only going to be young for so long, and I’d hate to miss this time in their lives.”
In 2014, Jordan shared his relationship advice to fellow boybander Nick Carter with ET: “I would say, you have to tell your wife when you’re going on tour,” he said. “Let her know your plans. Don’t tell her the day before or the week before — keep her in the loop!”
Donnie Wahlberg
Donnie Wahlberg and Jenny McCarthy are as crazy in love today as they were in the early days of their relationship.
The couple hit it off in 2012 when they were both guests on an episode of Watch What Happens Live, and their relationship has remained very public ever since. On a 2020 episode of her SiriusXM radio show, Jenny recalled her intense feelings for Wahlberg before they were even officially dating. “It was like we’d been married for six years, and I literally said to him, I go, ‘I love you, Donnie Wahlberg,’” she said of a 2013 interview she did with the singer and Blue Bloods star on her VH1 talk show. “But it wasn’t like, ‘Oh, I love you, I’m a fan!’ it was like, ‘I love you, Donnie Wahlberg,’ it was crazy.”
The couple’s blended family includes Wahlberg’s sons Xavier, 31, and Elijah, 22, from his first marriage to Kimberly Fey, and McCarthy’s son Evan, 22, from her marriage to John Asher.
Donnie and Jenny continue to make frequent appearances on each other’s social media, sharing adorable Valentine’s Day surprises and other sweet moments. They recently shared a hilarious clip in which they revealed the results of their “Paint Your Partner” date night.
Jonathan Knight
Jonathan Knight met husband Harley Rodriguez, an actor and personal trainer, in 2008 and the couple competed together on The Amazing Race in 2015.
“I’m the nervous one, and he’s the calm one,” Knight said of his dynamic with then-boyfriend Rodriguez. “It certainly helps to have a calm one. I’m always, like, ‘We gotta go! We gotta go!’ but he’s always calm and has the patience to make sure we’re not just running down the street and find out two miles down the road that we are going the wrong way.”
The following year, they got engaged, surrounded by family while on vacation in Africa. But it was a long trip toward wedded bliss. While the couple initially aimed for a 2021 wedding at their Massachusetts farm, the COVID-19 pandemic put Jonathan and Harley’s plans on hold.
“We were going to get married on the farm this year under a tent and then have the ceremony in our barn,” Knight said in 2021. “We had everything lined up: the caterers, the entertainment. We were going to get married under candlelight. And then that all just stopped.”
The couple opted to quietly tie the knot last year.
Knight has also spoken about his and Rodriguez’s struggle start a family. Last year, he revealed on fellow boybander Lance Bass’ podcast that he and Rodriguez had tried unsuccessfully for years to have children. “We went through the journey for about five years, and it just didn’t happen for us,” he explained.
Danny Wood
Danny Wood is the only member of NKOTB who is not currently married, but between his work with the iconic group, his own solo music and his other ventures, he certainly stays busy.
“I can’t wait for #themagicsummertour2024 to kick off in June! Looking forward to making more memories like these!” Wood wrote of NKOTB’s upcoming tour in a recent Instagram post featuring photos from the band’s past outings.
He also recently announced the relaunch of his signature hot sauces, and has continued to support the Remember Betty Foundation, a breast cancer charity he founded in 2008 in honor of his mother who died from the disease in 1999.
Wood is the father of three children from his marriage to Patricia Alfaro, which ended in 2006: son Daniel Jr., and daughters Chance and Vega. In 2019, he welcomed a granddaughter, Rose Elizabeth Wood, who has since appeared with him in his cooking videos on social media.
