Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson have been divorced for nearly two decades. They’ve both remarried and each have three children of their own.
In the newly released season of Netflix’s “The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On,” Nick, who hosts the show with his second wife, Vanessa Lachey née Minnillo, made a rare comment about his divorce from Simpson while trying to empathize with a cast member, admitting he has “scars” from the split.
The show follows multiple couples – all of whom are divided on the certainty of marriage – exploring an alternative relationship in an effort to determine if they want to make that commitment or move on.
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“I, too, was previously married. Divorced. So I understand the hurt, the scars that exist from that,” Nick told the cast at a dinner table while seated next to Vanessa.
He and Simpson, who starred together in the reality show “Newlyweds,” officially divorced in 2006 after initially splitting the previous year. The couple met through their mutual manager in 1998 and would have an on-again, off-again relationship before getting married in October 2002.
Soon after their divorce, Nick released a pointed ballad called “What’s Left of Me,” referencing his failed marriage. Then-model Minnillo starred in the music video for the song, and the couple soon started dating. But their relationship did not accelerate like his with Simpson.
“Maybe you have heard, I did issue an ultimatum to Nick. We dated for five years,” Vanessa told the cast. “And so I’ve talked about the fact that I’ve given an ultimatum. But what I’ve never talked about, is what I actually truly did.”
“I kept pointing the finger and I took that finger and I turned it to myself. And then I had to say, ‘What am I not giving him?’ I’m not giving him the respect that I’m asking. I’m not giving him the communication that I want. There’s an age gap, and I was still going out, you know, partying with my girls,” she admitted. “And I’m telling him I want to be a mom. He’s like, ‘Cool. OK. So I’ll see you at 2:30 when you get home?’ We are both Scorpios. We’re stubborn. And we were not getting anywhere.”
Nick continued the conversation, saying that by no means was their relationship perfect.
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“I just want to encourage you all, don’t let your past define your future,” Nick said to the group. “What I truly always wanted in my life was to have a beautiful marriage and a beautiful family. If I hadn’t retained my belief in that, I wouldn’t have ever realized the beautiful life that I have with this woman. And we sit up here, we don’t have it figured out.”
“But when you love each other, you believe in each other, and you’re aligned.”
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The release of the show and Nick’s comment come as Simpson and her husband, former NFL tight end Eric Johnson, are currently facing breakup rumors. Fans speculated that Simpson and Johnson, who married in 2014, were on the rocks when the singer posted a cryptic Instagram in November discussing new music.
“Interviews in my Nashville music room where I unearthed my singular magic. This comeback is personal, it’s an apology to myself for putting up with everything I did not deserve,” she wrote.
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Representatives for both Lachey and Simpson did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
