Jenny's Got Juice

Our 1994 pmoy is turning the mtv nation into mccarthyites

We Call Them Super-Playmates, centerfold stars such as Shannon Tweed, Kimberley Conrad Hefner and Pamela Anderson. And now there's Jenny McCarthy. How successful is she? Turn on MTV any weeknight and you'll see her co-hosting the hit show Singled Out, sort of a Dating Game crossbred with The Gong Show. On each episode, a girl or guy chooses a date from 50 contestants of the opposite sex. Naturally, Jenny is a strong presence--particularly when she's wearing spandex, a baby T and more spandex. Her role is part big sister, part carnival barker. She can whip the crowd into a frenzy or urge a finalist to sacrifice his pride (one guy swallowed a stick of butter). Jenny has no problem saying "see ya" to the poor boobs who give the wrong answer to what is considered the perfect breast size. (The choices: "Cowabunga" or "Ay Caramba.") On one episode a guy slaps himself in the head; on the next Jenny slams a pie into someone's face. The show is so rambunctious and Jenny is so spirited that People took notice. "I get in control by telling contestants off, saying things like, 'Shut up or I'll kick your butt,'" she told the magazine. "If you smack them around a little bit, there's never a problem." Easy for her to say: The MVP of her high school Softball and field hockey teams, she's also a keen kickboxer. In fact, Jenny's career has been full of knockout punches. When she first approached Playboy three years ago, she was a struggling model. She was Miss October 1993 a few months later and then became the 1994 Playmate of the Year. "I believe in God," the new Pmoy told Entertainment Tonight. "I go to church on Sunday and I say my prayers at night." Those prayers were answered. Soon the 1994 Pmoy was the co-host of Playboy TV's Hot Rocks with Pauly Shore; then she got a gig hosting the ESPN Maui Sports Challenge. She has packed in some television work (Silk Stalkings) along with movie roles in last year's The Stupids opposite Tom Arnold and in Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead with Christopher Walken and Andy Garcia. Jenny once said she hoped to follow in the footsteps of her Pmoy predecessor Anna Nicole Smith. It's a good bet that future Playmates will say the same about Jenny McCarthy.