Woman Claims To Be Mark Wahlberg's Secret Daughter After Alleged Non-Disclosure Agreement Expires
People on TikTok swear they see a resemblance.
@bitxh.lexie/TikTok; Eugene Powers/Shutterstock.com; Canva Mark Wahlberg, 51, is a family man nowadays, sharing four children with his wife Rhea Durham—Ella, 19, Michael, 16, Brendan, 14, and Grace, 13.
So it can be easy to forget that he began his career as the frequently shirtless beefcake headliner of the 90s hip-hop group Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch.
Even his film career had decidedly himbo-centric origins too, with his role as budding porn star Dirk Diggler in "Boogie Nights" making him a household name.
Today, Wahlberg's career choices hue more towards action-packed or family-friendly than suggestive.
But if a woman on TikTok is to be believed, Wahlberg's himbo years made him a dad long before he settled down.
A 20-something woman on TikTok claims she is Mark Wahlberg's secret daughter.
TikToker @bitxh.lexie's big reveal as Wahlberg's daughter went instantly viral when she posted it earlier this month.
The post is simple and brief—over a video of her lip-syncing, onscreen text reads, "When you're finally old enough the NDA has expired and can say who your father is."
The next line of text is intended to be cryptic but is hilariously transparent.
It reads, "I won't say his full name out of respect for him and his family but Mark W is my father and Donny is my uncle let's see who can put it together."
Appreciate the care with which you're making your announcement, Lexie, but it's no secret what you're getting at!
TikTok users quickly sussed out that "Mark W" meant Wahlberg, especially given the reference to "Donny." Wahlberg's brother, of course, is "New Kids On The Block" musician and actor Donnie Wahlberg.
Lexie's choice of music suggests she's very much in on the joke when it comes to keeping things secret.
In the clip, she lip syncs to the chorus of artist d4vd's "Here With Me," which prominently features a dulcetly sung "I don't care."
There is no evidence that the TikToker is actually Mark Wahlberg's daughter, but the timeline makes sense.
In the comments under her announcement video, Lexie provided more background information about her supposed birth.
"[My mom and Wahlberg] were friends for awhile. Would party together and it was just a fun time," she wrote.
"Then while he was filming for a movie 'T.T.A.C' she got pregnant with me. She didn’t want me to live that lifestyle she wanted me to have a normal life and so I did."
'T.T.A.C.' likely refers to the Jonathan Demme film "The Truth About Charlie," a remake of the classic film "Charade" in which Wahlberg starred alongside Thandiwe Newton.
Released in 2002, the movie would have been filmed just before Wahlberg settled down with Durham, whom he met in 2001.
Prior to Durham, Wahlberg had an extensive dating history in his playboy days and was linked to everyone from Reese Witherspoon to Shannen Doherty and Jordana Brewster in the 90s and early 2000s.
Many on TikTok think Lexie and Wahlberg share a facial resemblance.
There may not be any substantive evidence to back up Lexie's claims, but she definitely bears similarities to the man she claims is her father.
Since posting her claims about Wahlberg, users have flooded the comments of her other videos, like the one below, saying they see a resemblance.
"Girl! I see the resemblance here lol that’s your daddy jaw line especially in Fear," one commenter wrote, in reference to the 1996 thriller in which he starred with Witherspoon.
Others have noticed that Lexie also bears a resemblance to Wahlberg and Durham's daughter Ella.
"I mean you do look a lot like his oldest daughter," one user wrote, and it's not hard to see a likeness between them.
Plenty of others mocked Lexie's paternity claim as ridiculous.
"That's crazy! Mark is my dad too!" one user wrote. "I'm a couple years older than him, so that makes it even crazier."
Another sniped that, "people just say anything on the internet."
Still, given Wahlberg's checkered past—including convictions for assault and civil rights violations related to hate crimes he committed in the 1980s—a secret daughter wouldn't exactly be surprising.
(Wahlberg has since apologized for the crimes in his past.)
And Hollywood is full of stars with supposed secret children, from Johnny Depp's long-lost son to Jack Nicholson's secret daughter.
Maybe one day we'll get Lexie's full story. But whether she is Wahlberg's daughter or not, it seems Lexie feels like she had a good upbringing, which is the most important thing to any kid, celebrity or otherwise.
John Sundholm is a news and entertainment writer who covers pop culture, social justice and human interest topics.