Getting it right on the second try. Nick Lachey celebrated that his marriage to Vanessa Lachey is “better” than the relationship he had with ex-wife Jessica Simpson.
“[Marriage] is always better the second time, right?” the former 98 Degrees member, 49, told Love is Blind‘s Matt Bolton during the season 3 reunion special, which was released on Netflix on Wednesday, November 9. Bolton — who revealed on the show that he married his high school sweetheart before meeting now-wife Colleen Reed — responded, “Cheers, bud.”
Nick married Simpson, 42, in 2002 and the ups and downs of their relationship were chronicled on the MTV reality show, Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica. The fashion designer filed for divorce, citing “irreconcilable differences,” in December 2005 and their divorce was finalized the following year.
The “What’s Left of Me” singer began dating Vanessa, 42, shortly after the split and they eventually tied the knot in 2011. They welcomed sons Camden and Phoenix in 2012 and 2016, respectively, and daughter Brooklyn in 2015. Simpson, for her part, married Eric Johnson in 2014. She and the former NFL player share three kids: Maxwell, 10, Ace, 9, and Birdie, 2.
The Employee of the Month actress referred to Nick as her “first love” in her 2020 memoir, Open Book, adding that she doesn’t regret marrying him. “Nick loved the fact I was so strong in my faith and that I had this wide-eyed innocent approach to life. When he proposed in 2002, I said yes,” Simpson wrote. “We were young and pioneering our way through reality television, always mic’ed and always on. We worked and we were great at it but when it came time to being alone, we weren’t great at it anymore.”
She continued: “I was 22, and I had just pledged my life and destiny of this man. And I don’t regret it. Nick was meant to be my husband. No one else was supposed to have my virginity.”
Though he exclusively told Us Weekly that he didn’t read Simpson’s book, Nick revealed that he is “happy” for his ex-wife’s success during a February 2020 appearance on the Today show. “There’s definitely a mutual respect there, obviously it was a long time ago and we’ve all moved on,” he said.
Vanessa, meanwhile, opened up about dating the Kentucky native in the aftermath of his highly-publicized divorce during an April episode of the Love is Blind spinoff, The Ultimatum.
“He was literally in a very public marriage and a very public divorce, and I had to go through all that s–t very publicly and it was very hard for us,” the former MTV VJ said at the time. “It wasn’t until the moment that he was like, ‘I’m gonna let it go,’ and I said, ‘I’m gonna let it go,’ and we truly committed to each other. We literally fell deeper and harder than we ever could.”
Three months later, the couple celebrated their 11th wedding anniversary. “It’s hard to believe I’ve spent 11 years married to this wonderful woman,” Nick wrote via Instagram in July, alongside a sweet video of moments they’ve shared over the years. “V, I love you more now than the day we said “I Do”. The life we’ve built together is more than I could’ve ever dreamed of. Thank you for your unconditional love and thank you for being YOU! I love you. Happy Anniversary.”
