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Nick Lachey Seemingly Shades Ex-Wife Jessica Simpson: 2nd Marriages Are ‘Always Better’
Honesty hour! Nick Lachey seemingly shaded his relationship with ex-wife Jessica Simpson while reassuring Love Is Blind contestant Matt Bolton.
The former 98 Degrees singer, 49, said that marriage “is always better the second time,” referencing his marriage to wife Vanessa Lachey while offering the season 3 contestant a fist bump.
“Cheers bud,” Matt, who married Colleen Reed on the Netflix reality show after previously being married, responded.
Fans couldn’t help but raise their eyebrows at Nick’s subtle dig at his former wife, 42. “I’m sorry but did Nick Lachey just fist pump Matt saying ‘always better the second time around’ as a dig to Jessica Simpson? Felt icky!” one tweet read while another user agreed, “Nick Lachey did not have to bring Jessica Simpson into this.”
Many commenters thought his statement was “disrespectful” to the “Irresistible” singer, while others thought it was “cringy” that he was still seemingly referencing his former wife 16 years after their relationship ended.
Nick and Jessica had a highly publicized relationship during their four-year marriage which lasted from 2002 to 2006. During that time, they also had their own reality TV show, Newlyweds.
After their split, Nick was the first one to open up about their divorce, claiming he was “blindsided” when Jessica pulled the plug on their relationship in a limo after the American Music Awards.
“I’ll tell you how I knew my marriage was over. I was told. She said something about how we hadn’t really been getting along and then said, ‘I think I want a divorce,’” the “Give Me Just One Night” singer told Rolling Stone in 2006. “I basically said, ‘Please, let’s sleep on it.’ But when we woke up the next day, Wednesday morning, she was still sure.”
For her part, Jessica said her ex “is a good guy” and noted that they didn’t want to “let anyone down” with their breakup.
“I don’t have anything bad to say about him at all. I don’t,” she told Glamour in 2006. “And I do have something to lose by talking about it.”
Shortly after their uncoupling, the former boybander moved on with Vanessa, 42. The Dukes of Hazzard actress was romantically linked to football star Tony Romo and singer John Mayer before finding love with Eric Johnson.
Nick and Jessica both announced their respective engagements to Vanessa and Eric in November 2010, within a week of each other.
Nick and Vanessa tied the knot in July 2011, and they went on to have three children together — Camden, Phoenix and Brooklyn. Jessica married Eric in July 2014, and they share daughters Maxwell and Birdie and son Ace.
