Jenny McCarthy Hoping To Bring ‘Sexiness’ To Late Night

Jenny McCarthy is hoping to bring a sexy twist to late night television with “The Jenny McCarthy Show,” which premieres February 8 at 10:30 PM on VH1.

“What is missing in late night — to me — is a bit of sexiness,” Jenny told reporters on Saturday at the VH1 portion of the Television Critics Association Winter 2013 Press Tour in Pasadena, Calif. “Not that Jay Leno is not sexy, but I l feel like the template that I talked about is ‘Playboy After Dark.’ And what I love that Hugh Hefner did was kind of have this… sexy, after hours party, but also have really great conversations with his guests. That was really my goal and that’s our goal now as we do… rehearsals — trying to incorporate that kind of sexiness with having really great conversations with celebrities.”

Jenny has already tried out a few segments in test runs, including one bit where she hinted she laid on the floor with her celebrity crush and the star of “The Hangover” – Bradley Cooper.

“I wanted to kind of put my own stamp on how I do celebrity interviews, so I’ve been doing a segment right now called ‘Groundbreaking Interviews,’ where I take the celebrity and we literally lay on the ground and we look up and we have the camera overhead and I interview them in a casual conversation,” she said. “And I’ve found by doing this, which I’ve tested — Bradley Cooper — it works quite well. There’s something that [happens where] the celebrity kind of lets go and has a little bit more of a conversational tone. It’s not so scripted.”

As fans of Jenny know, she was originally in development for a daytime talk show, but she realized a good girl Jenny on TV during business hours wasn’t the most authentic Jenny.

“I am definitely more late night than daytime right now, at this point in my life,” she said. “I’m really excited that VH1 told me that they would allow me to be myself and let me continue kind of being that brand of being outrageous [and] outspoken, but fun. And it felt at home, that’s why we’re gonna come and do late night.”

— Jolie Lash