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Jessica Simpson to Pursue Post-Divorce Higher Education ‘Dream’: ‘Put It Off Long Enough’
Jessica Simpson is reinventing herself post-divorce and a source exclusively tells Life & Style she’s serious about going back to school, in part to prove to the world — and ex husband Eric Johnson — that she’s far more than the “dumb blonde” stereotype that’s been stuck to her since the early 2000s.
“Jessica has been contemplating completing and expanding her education for some time now,” explains a longtime friend of the singer’s family. “The big change now is that she and Eric have parted ways, she has a ton more time to actually get serious about this dream she’s had since her twenties of going back to school.”
The pop star-turned-fashion mogul, 44, split from former NFLer Eric, 45, in January after more than a decade of marriage. Though they kept the details of their marital issues under lock and key and very rarely gave any public info about their relationship, rumors swirled for years that their romance was going up in flames. Throughout their 10 years together, they welcomed three children — Maxwell, 12, Ace, 11, and Birdie, 5 — and the source notes Jessica is now focused on creating an effective and stress-free coparenting system with her ex and pursuing a list of other ambitions, at the top of which is education.
While the Dukes of Hazzard star rose to fame as a singer in the late 1990s, with hits like “Irresistible” and “I Wanna Love You Forever,” her breakthrough into mainstream pop culture came in the early 2000s thanks to the reality show Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, which often portrayed her as a ditsy blonde, a label she wouldn’t help shed with her infamous “Chicken of the Sea” mix up, where she questioned whether a can of tuna with the marketing slogan on it was actually chicken.
The source notes that her “serious incentive” isn’t just about the public perceptions, but has a lot to do with proving something to her Yale graduate ex husband Eric, 45. “Eric had no problem touting his own Ivy League education every chance he had during their marriage, mostly when he needed to win an argument.”
Jessica, who dropped out of J.J. Pearce High School in Richardson, Texas, in 1997 as her career took off, has previously admitted to feeling underestimated because of her public persona. “I had to work harder to be taken seriously,” she shared in her 2020 memoir, Open Book.
“It’s always been a little awkward for Jessica to have so many people in her close circle of friends with advanced and prestigious educations,” the source continues, “and Jessica has put off expanding her own horizons long enough.”
As the founder of a billion-dollar fashion brand, which she began in 2005, and a bestselling author, the Employee of the Month actress is used to defying others’ expectations and is ready to meet a challenge.
“Of course, going back to school is also going to give her no shortage of opportunities to meet somebody new,” the insider adds, “especially after she’s spent so much of the last five years cooped up in her house!”
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