Strange Things About Nick Lachey's Marriage

Nick and Vanessa Lachey (née Minnillo) have come a long way in the 14 years they've been in a relationship. The couple split up in 2009 for a hot minute, tied the knot in 2011, and now have three kids. Their professional lives have gone through changes, too. Vanessa left MTV's music video countdown show, TRL — where she worked as a veejay — in 2007; Nick's band, 98 Degrees, has not performed live since 2018.

Nowadays, the lovebirds have taken to hosting on TV together, like the Miss Teen USA Pageant and Netflix's hit reality dating show Love Is Blind (well, if 13 minutes on-screen counts). And it sounds like they enjoy being co-workers. "When we're working we're not with the kids," Vanessa told Strahan, Sara, & Keke in 2020. "So it's a different dynamic." Nick added, "It's almost like grown-up time, it's like a little vacation."

In addition to hosting with Nick, Vanessa has been starring in Lifetime Christmas movies 2018, such as the upcoming Once Upon a Main Street with Ryan McPartlin. She also loves to share family recipes with her Instagram followers via stories. And since 2019, Nick has hosted Nickelodeon competition show America's Most Musical Family. The Lacheys are downright wholesome these days. But every relationship has some weird in it deep down. We've reached pretty far back in history to uncover all of the strange things about Nick Lachey's marriage to Vanessa Lachey.

Nick Lachey's post-divorce album, What's Left Of Me dropped in 2006, and when casting the role of his love interest for the title song's video, one name came to mind: Vanessa Lachey (then Minnillo). But not entirely for the reasons you might think. "I had a brilliant idea that if I got [an] MTV veejay to be in my video, my chances of being played on TRL were pretty strong," Nick told People when he and his wife sat down for an interview together 2019. "He was using me," Vanessa added. (However, as Vanessa put it in a 2017 Billboard interview, "Little did he know I had no pull!")

Nick admitted in the aforementioned People interview that he "saw an opportunity," but that wasn't the only reason he reached out. "I always thought you were incredible," he said. Of catching feelings for each other, Vanessa said, "We were both single [on the video shoot] and we were both like 'wait a minute...' We'd never looked at each other through that lens." She described what happened to them on set as a "weird spark moment." The BH90210 actor also admitted she had "first date jitters" while filming. So, good weird feelings were brewing. 

Is it strange that Nick asked the woman he had feelings for to be in a video for a song about his failed marriage? Eh, kind of. But hey, it all worked out for them in the end. 

Nick and Vanessa Lachey eventually got past the awkward hide-and-seek phase and began dating. But with Vanessa in New York working on TRL and Nick based in L.A., they were two celebrities trying to make a long-distance courtship work. Vanessa met Nick after work one night at one of his concerts in New Jersey. When the show was over, they were ready for their first date. However, their dining options were erm...limited. "Y'all will know why I remember [our first date]," Vanessa said to the audience of Strahan, Sarah, & Keke in 2020. "'Cause it was a special, special place." 

Some celebrities go to a ritzy restaurant on their first date, others go dancing at the Playboy Club. Nick and Vanessa went to a chain restaurant. "I classed it up a little bit at Hooters for our first date," Nick shared. 

While a sports bar might not be everyone's ideal first date spot, it did not hamper their romance. Rather, their relationship was full steam ahead: On a 2020 episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show, the couple revealed Nick said "I love you" about "three-and-a-half dates in." He admitted that "it was way early" but added, "When you know, you know." Saying those three words early in the relationship could send someone running in the other direction, but it didn't freak out Vanessa. "That's what I love about Nick is he's a man that wears his heart on his sleeve," she said.

Secret celebrity weddings are nothing new. But not letting the attendees know the location ahead of the big day? That's another ball game. Nick and Vanessa Lachey didn't share the destination — Sir Richard Branson's Necker Island— with their guests ahead of time because they didn't want paparazzi catching wind. "I don't think any of our guests are going to intentionally run their mouth and tell a tabloid magazine," Nick said on TLC's Nick And Vanessa's Dream Wedding. "I'm just afraid it's one of those things where you're sitting in a nail salon and I could see my mom or somebody bragging about [the wedding]." 

Vanessa might've wanted to hide some details from family members. On the TLC special, she talked about not inviting her estranged mother, Helen Bondoc. Vanessa confessed, "[My mom] was my world and I'm convinced I was her world until I was eight. She said to my father, 'Can you watch her, just for a little bit until I get my feet on the ground?' And then...then I didn't hear from her." As difficult as it was to not have her mother around for the ceremony or the wedding prep, Vanessa decided against having her there. Bondoc told Star (via Radar Online), "I didn't have a clue that Vanessa was getting married. We last spoke about 12 years ago, on the phone. I just wanted to talk to her and tell her everything straight about my life."

Nick and Vanessa Lachey were both born on November 9, seven years apart. Sharing a birthday with a spouse wouldn't be the end of the world, but uh, it does not seem ideal. For one thing, what if you couldn't agree on what you want to do to celebrate? And who would get breakfast in bed? And if you blow out candles at the same time on the same cake, does that mean you have to split a wish?

Eh, we might be overthinking it. Vanessa said on Tamron Hall Show that the commonality brought her closer to Nick in the beginning. "[Our shared birthday] was actually the first thing that we realized that sparked [conversation]," she said. "I'm like, 'You're a Scorpio?'" From there, connecting was easy.

In 2019, the couple posted a video on their respective Instagram accounts singing "Happy Birthday" to each other, proving our point that it's a little bit strange. But in general, The Lacheys seem to love sharing a birthday with each other. In his 2019 post on Instagram Nick said, "14 birthdays in a row. Wouldn't want to do it any other way!" And in 2018 on Instagram, Vanessa said, "I Love sharing this day (and everyday) with you!" As long as they each get their own cake, we suppose it could be a fun day to share.