Getty Images; Courtesy of Mark Wahlberg/Instagram
Mark Wahlberg Shares New Photo With Daughter Ella After Visiting Her at College: ‘So Proud’
Mark Wahlberg shared a rare snapshot while visiting his eldest daughter, Ella, at college recently. The Arthur the King actor also revealed a funny anecdote about his trip to see her on his Facebook page on Sunday, June 23.
“When you go visit your daughter at college and end up in Love Shack Fancy,” Mark, 53, captioned a picture while sitting in the store on his Facebook page.
Fathers will clearly do anything just to see their daughters happy, even if it means going on an impromptu shopping spree!
Over on his Instagram page, the Entourage alum shared a sweet snapshot with his daughter, smiling as they stood next to each other during the trip. “So proud of this young lady,” he captioned the post.
Mark shares Ella, 20, along with younger kids Grace, Michael and Brendan with his longtime wife, Rhea Durham. Rhea, 45, also posted the same photo of her husband sitting in Love Shack Fancy on her page, with Ella writing “Charleston boy” beneath the post.
The parents of four shared their emotional reactions after dropping their eldest child off at college in January 2023.
“On my way home from my first college drop off,” Rhea wrote on Instagram at the time. “The emotions are running wild.”
Back when Ella was first looking at colleges, Mark opened up about watching his little girl prepare for her next chapter.
“My 18-year-old, now I literally have no authority over her until she realizes she needs me financially,” he said during an appearance on Live With Kelly and Ryan in August 2022. “She’s doing tattoos and all this stuff but she’s now really focused on academics, which is great. It took her a while to get there.”
“She’s going to graduate mid-year and then we’re going on tour,” he explained. “She’s picking the most random places — San Diego State, Clemson — so we’re going to go to all these places.”
Ultimately, Ella chose to attend Clemson University in South Carolina. Mark revealed that he once crashed a frat party on Ella’s college campus. He had the best time!
“They were having the most fun I’ve ever seen anybody have, ever! Even more than her coming to Vegas,” he told Entertainment Tonight in December 2023. “I was at the frat house and, you know, a couple of spots in town.”
“It was nuts,” he said with a smile when talking about attending the function. “Parents’ weekend was incredible.”
Ella has been loving college, according to her famous father. “She’s just so happy there,” he said during an appearance on Today in October 2023. “She’s really thriving.”
Mark also revealed that seeing Ella thrive in college has led him to regret not ever having the authentic college experience himself.
“We just went to parents’ weekend, you know with the sorority girls and the frat house,” he reflected. “It was like, ‘Oh my God.’ I definitely felt like I never really had too many regrets about not going to college until I saw [this].”
