Jenny McCarthy Finally Reveals the Mystery Illness That Made Her Life a Living Hell

Jenny McCarthy just laid out a pretty brutal run of medical chaos on Maria Menounos' podcast: mold toxicity, mycotoxin poisoning, and a mess of dental and eye issues that kept coming back no matter what she did. It started with one bad root canal and snowballed from there. This all comes from a sneak peek of Menounos' upcoming 'Heal Squad' episode (Us Weekly has the exclusive clip). McCarthy is 53 now; Menounos is 47. And yes, this is the same Jenny McCarthy from The Masked Singer.

The quick version

• After six months of what she calls 'living hell,' McCarthy headed to a biological dentist and learned an infected root canal had kicked off a bigger problem.
• Because the canal wasn't fully cleaned, she says she developed a jawbone infection and 'three' toxic pockets under her wisdom teeth, plus recurring root cavitations.
• She kept landing back in the chair: 'I'm on surgery, like, number eight' at one point; she later said she had nine mouth surgeries in 2025 alone.
• Then her eye got involved: a growth she describes as a 'puss-filled eraser top' kept coming back four weeks after removal and started oozing infection.
• At the same time, her mouth stayed infected and, she says, her implants rejected.
• Her functional medicine doctor told her they needed to dig deeper and tested her for mold. That finally led to a diagnosis of mold toxicity and mycotoxin poisoning.
• She was warned one type of mold she has can cause seizures if it crosses the blood-brain barrier.
• She says she became antibiotic resistant last year, which is why the infections kept piling up despite medication.
• Now she is on what she calls a heavy-duty mold protocol; she says the symptoms have been dogging her since 2025.

How this spiraled

McCarthy says the whole thing started with an infected root canal that wasn't 'cleaned out all the way.' That, according to her, triggered a jawbone infection with 'three of these little toxic pools hiding underneath my wisdom teeth' and recurring root cavitations that would not quit. She kept going in for procedures and hit a point where, as she puts it, 'I'm on surgery, like, number eight.' For context, she later revealed she had nine mouth surgeries in 2025 alone. Not exactly a banner year.

Then her eye joined the party

In the middle of the dental nightmare, McCarthy says she suddenly developed 'growths on my eye' that looked like the 'nastiest whitehead, puss-filled eraser top.' At first, she says she was told she wasn't washing her eyes enough. Her response: 'bulls***.' Even after surgically removing the growth, it came back four weeks later. Then it started oozing. Meanwhile, her mouth was still infected and, she says, her implants rejected. The timing on all of it? Awful.

The diagnosis that finally made sense

Her functional medicine doctor stepped in with a reality check: 'You're the healthiest patient I have. We gotta go dig deeper.' They did a mold test. That, McCarthy says, was the lightbulb moment. She was told she had mold toxicity and mycotoxin poisoning, which would explain the back-to-back infections and why nothing seemed to heal.

As she explains it, mold can release toxins into dust particles. Most people with robust immune systems can handle that exposure, but folks with underlying issues — she mentions weaker immunity, leaky gut, and candida, all things she says she has dealt with — can get hammered by it.

'If this thing that you've got crosses the blood brain barrier you're going to be in the hospital having seizures.'

That was the warning she says she got about one particular mold in her system. Not exactly the kind of note you want to leave a doctor's office with.

Why the antibiotics stopped working

Another twist: McCarthy says she became antibiotic resistant last year. In her telling, the mycotoxins played a role, which is why it felt like infection after infection no matter how many meds she took. Now she is on a heavy-duty mold protocol to try to get ahead of it — and she says these symptoms have been chasing her since 2025.

If you want the whole story in her words, the 'Heal Squad' episode with McCarthy drops Tuesday, March 31.