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‘Newlyweds’ Producer Recalls Jessica Simpson’s Dad Inviting Her Ex on Family Vacations With Nick Lachey

Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica producer Sue Kolinsky pulled back the curtain on Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey’s relationship in a revealing new podcast interview.

Related: Jessica Simpson’s Dating History

“They really were polar opposites,” the Emmy nominee said on the “Reality Life With Kate Casey” podcast on Wednesday, November 6. “He knew how to do laundry, she didn’t know how to do laundry. She was much younger than him — kind of bratty, a bratty little rich girl — and he was a blue-collar guy. He loved sports, he liked building things. Their families were very different. So, right away, I knew it was gonna work. She was gorgeous, he was handsome. She had jealousies, he had jealousies. Whenever you have conflict, there’s [a] story.”

Newlyweds’ Producer Recalls Jessica Simpson’s Dad Inviting Her Ex on Family Vacations With Nick Lachey
Joe Simpson, Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey Shutterstock (2)

Kolinsky recalled that much of the tension between Simpson, now 39, and Lachey, now 45, derived from their relationships with their respective in-laws.

“Her dad [Joe Simpson] wasn’t that crazy about her being with Nick,” she said. “He thought that the age difference was gonna be a big deal. He was going to want to start a family sooner than Jessica was gonna want to do that. … He didn’t want her to kind of take a backseat and take a break from her career to be a mom at a very, very young age. Look, her father was very forthcoming in his actions of what he thought about Nick, so that was great story. Here was Nick in the middle of his in-laws, who were not that crazy about him.”

Related: Failed Reality TV Romances

The TV writer recalled one specific instance in which Joe, now 61, allegedly made things very awkward between the “I Wanna Love You Forever” singer and the 98 Degrees member.

“They took a lot of family vacations with Jessica’s family. Her father used to invite Jessica’s old boyfriend [Mike Alexander] on these trips, which was bizarro,” she claimed. “He was a gym instructor, so I think he was still kind of working with Jessica in that capacity. And, you know, he was a handsome guy. And it was like, how uncomfortable is this for Nick?”

Newlyweds’ Producer Recalls Jessica Simpson’s Dad Inviting Her Ex on Family Vacations With Nick Lachey
Nick Lachey, Joe Simpson, Jessica Simpson and Tina Simpson attend the opening of Levi’s in Santa Monica on July 10, 2003. Bei/Shutterstock

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This is not the first time that Kolinsky has spoken publicly about the stars’ marriage and the inner workings of the MTV reality series, which aired for three seasons from 2003 to 2005. She admitted to Complex in 2017 that the show’s team occasionally poked fun at the Jessica Simpson Collection cofounder’s naivety.

“There were times when we were like, ‘Hm, does she really not know what this means?’” Kolinsky told the website. “I truly believe the whole ‘chicken and fish’ situation was accurate. She really did not know. I remember there was a scene where there was a dead mouse by their pool and it had been dead for a while. Nick said, ‘It’s in rigor mortis,’ and Jessica said, ‘Riga-what?’ I truly believe she didn’t know what that meant.”

Jessica and Lachey divorced in 2006 after four years of marriage. She is now married to former NFL player Eric Johnson, with whom she shares Maxwell, 7, Ace, 6, and Birdie, 7 months. The America’s Most Musical Family host, meanwhile, shares Camden, 7, Brooklyn, 4, and Phoenix, 2, with his wife, Vanessa Lachey.

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