Mark Wahlberg Thinks 18-Year-Old Daughter Ella's Boyfriend 'Couldn't Be Any Sweeter'

Mark Wahlberg is opening up about how well he gets along with his daughter Ella's boyfriend.

The Uncharted star, 50, appeared on Thursday's episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where he spoke to host Ellen DeGeneres about how he's more concerned for the boyfriend in their relationship than he is for his 18-year-old daughter, who he acknowledged is "tough."

"I think he's more scared of my daughter than he is of me," Wahlberg said. "I pray more for him than I pray for her in that relationship."

"They're perfect for each other. And he couldn't be any sweeter," the star continued.

"I realized early on that it's inevitable," he added, referring to the fact that his kids are getting older and starting to date.

"As long as it's somebody who's nice and treats her well, and somebody that I can trust and respect. We have a great relationship. He's fantastic. I hope she can keep him!" the actor said of his daughter's boyfriend, who has been dating her for a year.

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Wahlberg is father to Ella as well as daughter Grace, 12, and sons Michael, 15, and Brendan, 13. He shares his children with wife Rhea Durham, to whom he's been wed since 2009.

He also shared that Ella's boyfriend stayed with the Wahlberg family for an extra week after holiday break.

"We worked out, we did lots of stuff together. He's a very good influence on her," he said. "He's such a sweet guy. He has lots of interest that we have in common."

Also on the episode, Wahlberg recounted how the family's holiday break vacation started — without him, due to a positive COVID-19 test result.

"You had COVID during Christmas and that must have been difficult because your family just went off and left you," said DeGeneres.

"We always go on holiday at Christmas and I'm down in the basement a couple days before Christmas, I don't get to open any gifts with anyone or anything and next thing you know, they're still going on holiday," Wahlberg shared.

"I hear the car getting ready to go, the doors are shutting, and I'm like, 'Are you not the gonna come to the stairs and say goodbye?' " he said with a laugh. "But they did come to the stairs and stayed not 6 feet apart but like 36 feet apart."

After receiving two negative tests, the Ted star was finally able to meet them on the trip but said his family wasn't too thrilled to see him.

"They're like, 'What are you doing here? Are you sure he's okay?' I still had a little bit of a cough and stuff like that. They didn't want me there," he joked.