Vanessa Lachey addresses husband Nick’s ‘very public’ divorce from Jessica Simpson: ‘It was very hard’

Vanessa Lachey has spoken candidly about the impact her husband Nick Lachey’s “very public” divorce from Jessica Simpson had on her.

Before starting a relationship with Vanessa, the 98 Degrees singer was married to Simpson for three years, with the former couple tying the knot in 2002. While together, the singer and Nick starred in the reality show Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, which ran from 2003 to 2005. They publicly announced their separation in November 2005 and finalised their divorce in 2006.

In Netflix’s newest dating series,The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On, hosted by Vanessa and Nick, six couples are given ultimatums in their relationship, as one person is ready for marriage and the other is not. Before deciding whether they want to tie the knot or breakup forever, the contestants date other people and choose someone else to live with for three weeks, as part of a “trial marriage”.

As the contestants prepared to reunite with their original partners during the sixth episode of the new dating show, Vanessa took the opportunity to reflect on her relationship with Nick and the impact of his divorce. According to Vanessa, Nick’s “very public” marriage and divorce was “very hard” on them.

“He was literally in a very public marriage and a very public divorce, and I had to go through all that sh*t,” the 41-year-old TV host said of the early days of their relationship in 2006. “Very publicly. And it was very hard for us.”

However, the model also acknowledged that they still found a way to be “committed to each other” after Nick’s divorce, and that it required letting go.

“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,” she recalled. “We literally fell deeper and harder than we ever could.”

The couple first met in 2005 when Nick made multiple guest appearances on the Total Request Live, hosted by Vanessa from 2003 to 2007. In 2006, she was featured in the singer’s music video for his song What’s Left of Me.

Vanessa has previously discussed how the pair’s relationship started prior to filming the music video. While speaking to Tamron Hall in 2020, Nick said that he and Vanessa “spent a lot of time apart” when they started dating and would sit on the phone “for hours”. But, once Vanessa got to the music video set, she said that they had the “emotional connection”.

“I get there and we have this emotional connection, and this is the first time we’re gonna physically see each other after the butterflies,” she explained. “And they say: ‘Uh, Miss Minnillo,’ cause my maiden name is Vanessa Minnillo, ‘Mister Lachey has picked out your wardrobe. It’s over there in the back.’”

The couple married in 2011 and are now parents to three children: Camden, nine, Brooklyn, seven, and Phoenix, five.

Along with The Ultimatum, released on Netflix on 6 April, Vanessa and Nick are the co-hosts of another popular reality show, Love Is Blind.