Nick Lachey credits his past marriage to Jessica Simpson with showing him what he wanted with wife Vanessa Lachey.
In the season 11 Love Is Blind premiere, contestant Erika Ellis shared with Nick, 52, that she has had a “tough time” knowing when to talk about her past marriage on dates — which led him to reflect on his own history.
“Well, as some of you may know, I was previously married before I met my incredible wife,” Nick said in the Wednesday, October 14, premiere. “I would make the very unique argument that it gives you a leg up. Because you know from that experience what it is you truly want.”
Vanessa, 45, chimed in to add, “We all have messy pasts, all of us.”
Nick tied the knot with Simpson, now 46, in 2002 after four years of dating. The couple gave fans a behind-the-scenes glimpse of their marriage on the MTV reality show Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica before calling it quits in 2005. Nick and Simpson finalized their divorce in 2006.
“I wanted my marriage to look perfect. I didn’t mind if I looked dumb, but I wanted people to see the fairy tale in Nick. In us,” Simpson wrote of their marriage in her 2020 memoir, Open Book. “I had the Instagram-girlfriend syndrome before it was a thing, and I wanted the world to see my husband in the best light because I was hopelessly in love with him.”
Nick moved on with Vanessa in 2006 before they wed in 2011. The couple share sons Camden, 14, and Phoenix, 9, and daughter Brooklyn, 11.
Simpson, meanwhile, tied the knot with Eric Johnson in 2014. The pair welcomed daughters Maxwell, 14, and Birdie, 7, and son Ace, 13, before separating in 2025. One year later, Simpson had a surprise run-in with Nick when they were on the same flight from Los Angeles to Hawaii.
“They actually did say hello, and it was a nice, cordial conversation,” a source told Us in March. (TMZ reported that Vanessa and Johnson, 47, were also on board.)
Two months later, Nick reflected on the encounter during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.
“It was strangely OK,” he said in May. “You know, it’s been 20 years, and so we hadn’t seen each other in those 20 years and then spent six and a half hours on a flight to Hawaii together. When I say ‘spent,’ [I mean] in the same vicinity. Everyone was very cordial, very respectful. It was honestly … it was fine.”
