Do you ever think about how many people in Alec Baldwin’s life must have known that he was being conned by a woman pretending to be Spanish? It’s something that I keep coming back to – when Alec first met Hilaria, she was probably doing that fake accent, and her “Spanish backstory” fell apart like a cheap suit. How many people in Alec’s life were like “hey, maybe this one is, how you say, loca?” We’ll probably never know how many people saw through Hilaria’s whole deal, but it will be interesting to watch how many people figure it out as they’re watching Alec and Hilaria’s new TLC show, The Baldwins (sidenote: I’m sure Hilaria wanted to call it Los Baldwinitos). This is their reality show and they’re putting their eleventy billion kids on camera too. Hilaria and Alec cover this week’s People Magazine to preview the show.

Alec wishes he didn’t have this many kids: “I always joke with her and say, ‘You know where I should be right now, don’t you? We should be on Geffen’s yacht, drinking a cappuccino and reading a book, and having dinner with Spielberg or whatever,’ ” he says. Hilaria interjects: “Instead we’re changing diapers!” Which is just the way they like it. “This is my reality,” Alec says, reflecting on their family dynamic. “I wouldn’t change anything,”

Hilaria on why they’ve done this show: “Telling your story is one thing, and showing your story is something else,” says Hilaria. “It felt authentic, it felt human. It felt very empowering.” On the show they get candid about hot topics, including whether they had a prenup. “I said I would,” Hilaria recounts. “And then you’re like, ‘Okay, we don’t have to.’ ”

Why Alec did the show: “We did the show because it’s in place of doing a movie or a play. Now I think to myself, ‘Am I going to be away from my kids five nights out of the week until 11 o’clock at night?’ For me, work-related things really aren’t that critical anymore. I thought, ‘I get to spend time with my family.’ ”

Alec on Hilaria: “I don’t know where I would be if I didn’t have her. I don’t know what would’ve happened to me. I had been married, got divorced. I dated another woman for off and on for quite a while. I’m like, ‘I don’t want to have a girlfriend. I don’t,’” Alec recalls of 2011, when he and Hilaria first entered each other’s lives. “And so when I met [Hilaria], I was really like, ‘Oh, God. I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to do this,’” Alec remembers. “But I mean, I fell madly in love with her. And I told my friends, and they were like, ‘Oh, Jesus Christ. It’s like a miracle.’”

Alec took it slow during their courtship: As Hilaria remembers it, Alec took his time to make the first move, making her wait six weeks before they kissed. “He shook my hand, which was fine,” she recalls matter-of-factly. “No hug, nothing.” “Well, no, I had been dating someone,” Alec explains. “Listen, I’m older, I’m from a different civilization,” he continues. “And in my mind, when I was younger, if you sleep with someone, you have a bond with them. And I bonded with people that I did not want to bond with, but I did that. And then with her, the same thing. I’m thinking, ‘Oh, I don’t want another girlfriend.’ I just didn’t want to make her like … She’s a beautiful woman, I’m sure she’s had people all over her,” jokes Alec.

[From People Magazine]

Do you want the kids’ names and ages currently? Carmen, 11, Rafael, 9, Leonardo, 8, Romeo, 6, Eduardo and Marilu, 4, and Ilaria, 2. A mess. You’ve got to love how People Magazine’s premise for this story is “they’ve overcome so much, like concerns about the age difference!” Like Hilaria didn’t fabricate her entire backstory in which she was “from Spain” and spoke for years with a Mexican accent. The only true thing here is that Alec is tired and he’s not getting much work anymore, and that’s why he agreed to the reality show. It will be such a mess.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Instagram, cover courtesy of People.