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If there’s anything we all can agree on, it’s that Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey were seriously one of the cutest couples ever. From Simpson’s adorably silly behavior to Lachey’s overflowing patience with her, the two were #RelationshipGoals long before that even became a thing.

So, obviously, it was a total shock when the singers broke up in 2005. Simpson would later comment on their failed romance, opening up about the pain she felt and why she thought she’d never “walk down the aisle again” following the breakup. 

Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey
Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey | Photo by Scott Gries/Getty Images

A quick recap of Simpson and Lachey’s relationship

Simpson and Lachey’s love story began in 1998 when they met at the Hollywood Christmas Parade. The chemistry between the then-18-year-old singer and the 24-year-old heartthrob was instant. Within weeks, Lachey had reportedly started to tell his inner circle, “I’m going to marry that girl one day.”

In February of 2002, Lachey followed through on his promise. He chartered a yacht in Hawaii and proposed to the self-avowed virgin as the sun set. They tied the knot that October in a lavish ceremony in Texas. 

Simpson later raved to Blender about their big day and their wedding night. “It was the most amazing moment of my life,” she revealed. “I’m so lucky I didn’t lose my virginity in the back of a Jeep or something. Instead, I had this amazing, elaborate wedding and I topped it off with that.”

Inside Simpson and Lachey’s marriage

Nothing captured the essence of their relationship like their MTV show Newlyweds. The series highlighted their sweetest moments and their undeniable chemistry in the beginning stages of their marriage. But it also showed their fights over things like Simpson’s perpetual failure to clean up after herself. And, eventually, those problems started to boil over.

“You could feel there was tension between the two of them. They were very different people. He was a blue-collar guy—he did a lot of things himself, like he and his brother would build things. He was frugal, and she had excessive taste. In the end, they weren’t suited for each other. The only thing they really had in common was their music,” Newlyweds producer Sue Kolinsky told Complex in 2017.

“She was really young; I think he’s seven years older than her. He wanted a family, and her father thought maybe she was too young. Her father was very involved in her life,” Kolinsky continued.

Simpson filed for divorce in December of 2005, citing irreconcilable differences. Their high-profile divorce was finalized the following year.

Why Simpson thought she wouldn’t find love again

Though she initiated the divorce, it was still hard for Simpson to let go. After all, Lachey was her first and, at one point, she seemingly believed that they would spend their lives together. 

“It was hard to imagine I would ever walk down the aisle again,” she told Glamour in 2009. “It was like a death in the family: You go through the mourning stage, then the rebellion, and then all of a sudden you have to find life by yourself. Once you do that, you feel complete—and that’s the only time you can truly fall in love again, and give yourself over completely to another person.”

Clearly, Simpson has found love again. In 2014, she married NFL star Eric Johnson, with whom she shares three children: Maxwell, Ace, and Birdie.

And Lachey moved on, too. In 2011, he wed Vanessa Minnillo, with whom he shares three kids: Camden, Brooklyn, and Phoenix.

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