The Truth Behind Jessica Simpson And Nick Lachey's Divorce
We all miss simpler times, the good old days of reality TV when there were wholesome shows like Newlyweds, showcasing the lives of two young pop stars who were crazy in love and couldn't tell the difference between chicken and tuna. Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson divorced more than a decade ago in 2005 (feel old yet?). But what was really behind the split? Here we lay out the real reasons the lovebirds' seemingly perfect relationship fell apart.
Jessica allegedly cheated on Nick on the set of 'Dukes of Hazzard'
Simpson may not have been loyal during the pair's four-year nuptials. Jackass star Bam Margera told Howard Stern (via Radar Online) that he and Simpson had sex during the filming of Dukes of Hazzard in 2005. He told Stern he "wound up at her parent's house drinking margaritas and it went from there." Margera said he left the Simpsons at "8 in the morning." Simpson denied the two ever hooked up.
Jessica's dad was a bad influence on the marriage
Simpson's dad Joe never really warmed up to Lachey. "I don't pretend to understand Joe," Lachey told Rolling Stone in 2006 (via People). "I don't know if he ever liked me. To this day I couldn't say. It was painful. Do I think Joe drove a rift between us? No. Was he an influence in our marriage? Absolutely." So while Joe may not have single-handedly ended the marriage, he definitely put on a strain on the young couple's relationship.
They disagreed on starting a family
The two didn't seem to be on the same page when it came to kids. After they divorced, Lachey told Jenny McCarthy on her Sirius XM show Dirty, Sexy, Funny (via ET Online) that he was happy he never had kids with Simpson. "In our situation, that was probably the best thing that could have ever happened that we didn't have kids," he said. "And look, you're always going to love your kids no matter how you feel about their other parent, but all things being equal, it was the best thing probably for both of us that we went on with our lives."
Simpson sees Lachey as a bad investment
The love has definitely faded between the once-blissful couple. Simpson seems to regret marrying Lachey all together. In 2015, when asked what her biggest money mistake was, she told CNBC's Closing Bell (via Us Weekly), "The biggest money mistakes? I don't know. For some reason I thought of my first marriage!" Ouch. She reportedly paid Lachey $12 million in the divorce settlement.
Real life blurred with their reality TV show
After their divorce and the end of their show Newlyweds, Lachey said in an interview with Rolling Stone (via People) that he and Simpson had a hard time living a normal life even when the cameras weren't rolling. "Jessica and I began playing these parts even when we were by ourselves," he said of being on the show. "It became a really blurred line. There was a question about what truly was our reality."
Jessica had made up her mind and Nick couldn't change it
Apparently Lachey didn't have much of a say when it came to the termination of his marriage. "I'll tell you how I knew my marriage was over: I was told," he said in an interview with Rolling Stone (via People). He was shocked when Simpson told him she wanted a divorce suddenly one night after dinner. "I basically said, 'Please, let's sleep on it.'" he said. "But when we woke up the next day, Wednesday, she was still sure."
Nick was tired of waiting on Jessica hand and foot
In an in-depth profile of the pair from 2003, Rolling Stone claimed Simpson bossed her then-husband around. "Will you iron mah new shirt?" she asks him as she gets her hair and makeup done. He at first sarcastically says "no," but not even a minute later he grabs the iron and begins ironing her expensive blouse. The Rolling Stone writer called Lachey a "whipped mofo."
They constantly fought about money
In many episodes of Newlyweds, Lachey would berate Simpson for spending too much money, mainly on clothes. "Two hundred and thirty-eight dollars!" Lachey exclaims in the couple's Rolling Stone profile when holding up the blouse Simpson wants him to iron. "It's a f***ing shirt!" he yells. In her defense, the studio pays for her clothes, to which Lachey bitterly replies "They don't give me money."
The fact that Simpson made a lot more than Lachey also complicated things, and probably contributed to his attitude toward his wife's spending.
Jessica can't even think about Nick without freaking out
When Simpson was asked in 2015 how she'd feel about re-watching Newlyweds all over again, she said bluntly, "I would have a panic attack." So clearly the memories aren't happy ones. It looks like there's no chance of reconciliation for these two.
'It's time for everyone to move on,'
All is well that ends well for America's favorite newlyweds—who both found 'happily ever after' with other people. Simpson married former NFL player Eric Johnson, with whom she has two children. Lachey married Vanessa Minnillo in 2011 and they have three kids.
Both of them prefer not to talk about their first marriage. "I've moved on, clearly she's moved on, and we've taken the kind of attitude now, at least I have, where I'm just not going to talk about this anymore," Lachey recently said, "I mean, it's time for everyone to kind of move on and let that be a thing of the past."