Let’s set the wayback machine to 2003, when we were already complaining about the fact that MTV wasn’t playing videos anymore and revisit a little show called Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica. For three seasons, we watched pretty much the entirety of the marriage of singers Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson, who tied the knot on October 26, 2002. The show is probably best known for the infamous “Chicken of the Sea” incident, where Jess couldn’t figure out if she was eating tuna or chicken out of a can.
Complex published an interview with the show’s producer, Sue Kolinsky, on Monday. Sue, who also served as a producer on other reality shows, including The Osbournes, Last Comic Standing and Top Chef, dished on her experiences working on Newlyweds. She revealed that, unlike many a reality show where the term reality is used quite loosely, Newlyweds wasn’t nearly as scripted as you may have thought it was, telling Complex, “It was a whole new genre. When it comes to reality TV, back then it was at its purest form. Plus, [Nick and Jessica] were perfect because they were polar opposites, they were beautiful and without even realizing it, they were very funny.”
As for whether or not Jessica had perfected a “dumb blonde” shtick while on the show, Sue said, “There were times when we were like, ‘Hm, does she really not know what this means?’ I truly believe the whole ‘chicken & fish’ situation was accurate. She really did not know.” Fortunately, Jessica still maintains a good sense of humor about the incident. On Sunday, she posted a screenshot from a Time magazine article with the headline “Whole Foods Discovered Its Chicken Salad Actually Had Tuna” to Instagram on Sunday with the caption, “It happens to the best of us @wholefoods.”
Nick and Jessica may have made for good television, but they obviously weren’t made for each other, splitting after the show’s last series aired in 2005. Sue saw it coming, remembering at the time that:
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. 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.
Don’t cry for Nick and Jessica though, they both came out of this okay. Nick married Vanessa Minnillo in 2011 and had three kids, daughter Brooklyn, 2 and sons Camden, 4 and Phoenix, 7 months. Jessica married Eric Johnson in July of 2014 and has two kids of her own daughter Maxwell, 5 and son Ace, 4. Jessica has a successful fashion line (including some lovely, yet uncomfortable shoes) and Nick Lachey was immortalized on The Soup (RIP). And, if you’ll now excuse me, I’m off to YouTube to find clips of Newlyweds to watch. I didn’t realize how much I enjoyed that show.
Photos: Getty Images, WENN.com
Can you imagine, being the blue collar, builds things with his hands dude, ending up in a cheese ball boy band like 98 degrees? That whole era of man-boys singing and dancing in matching outfits was kind of amazing, wasn’t it?
Right? Such a fun era of music, those boy bands.
Shockingly, the brand new marriage that was followed constantly by tv cameras, and her father, had tension!
Lol, right?! I think Nick even hinted, not so subtly, that Jessica’s father’s meddling definitely didn’t help their marriage. They were a cute couple but I agree they weren’t really right for each, regardless of her controlling father.
I think the fame and making more money got to her head and she dumped him for someone ‘better’ now look who she married isnt he jobless?
@Loopy
There were also accusations of cheating on both sides.
@loopy – they forgot that what made the show a success was the fact that Nick was the foil she played off of. Without him she was just the high maintenance ditsy blond.
@Loopy he may be jobless but he is a former NFL player, so there’s that. And she is a billionaire. Does he really need a job?
Yeah it was very clear they didn’t belong together and no I don’t think Jessica was faking stupid. She isn’t that good an actress. That girl is just dumb but she owns it.
It’s kind of crazy how her brand of dumb has paid off so well for her. She’s worth how much now?? Still doesn’t have her head tied on straight.
I think three things (at least) helped her succeed without being super-smart: her physical beauty; her sense of humor, especially about herself; and her sweetness. It’s harder to accept a person who is mean and dumb than someone who is nice and dumb.
I don’t think being nice helps her I think she was incredibly lucky with her clothing line otherwise she’d have been completely forgotten and D list right now.
Jessica is smart enough to surround herself with business associates who are smarter than she is. That’s the key for many creative/artistic types, who don’t have business acumen or discipline. You glom onto people who are smarter than you and are willing to teach you the ropes.
Does anyone really think she designs any of the stuff herself? Face it, she licensed her name because she had nothing else left other than it and now she’s sitting on easy street.
I think I read her mom Tina was hands on with her fashion line. So it’s not her it’s mom. The only reason I remember that was during Papa Joe and Tina’s divorce she laid claim to the brand because she worked on it.
Jessica said a few years after Newlyweds that she had been telling that ‘chicken or tuna’ joke for years before the show, so she was definitely playing to the cameras. Girl is stupid like a fox IMO.
I remember watching this back in the day and loving it. They were pretty authentic and hilarious. But it did expose just how different they truly were. Also I think the fact that she began to outearn him by miles during the marriage was an ego blow as well
I think the money was the real deal breaker between them. Jessica was breaking into acting and getting more endorsement deals while his music career was definitely waning. He could not very well criticize or attempt to place limits on her extravagant spending (remember the $50,000 watch she bought him for his birthday?) when she was the main breadwinner.
Just because she made more money then another person doesn’t mean her spending was rational or responsible. If I were married to someone who burned money like wood chips, I would tell them to think it over too.
I watched it a few times too and I thought it was really cute too. I also remember being surprised that Budge Brittany (what we use to call Simpson) was actually pretty charming and likable.
I gotta say…goddamn Jessica sizzles doesn’t she? She’s one of those people who just have a very natural, primal sexuality without even trying.
She’s gorgeous
I remember listening to a radio station in Atlanta where she visited. The host of the very popular morning show said of Jessica’s visit to the studio that she was so pretty that everyone around her looked uglier by comparison. She’s apparently stunning in person.
EMBEE: I agree with you that Jessica always had an incredible, natural, girl next door type beauty (her fun, bubbly personality surely only adds to it), but unfortunately, as you can see in the more recent picture of her with Eric, girlfriend had reallllly been heavy-handedly messing with the scalpel, ‘Tox and fillers over the past couple of years. It’s sad; it seems she’s headed the Nicole Kidman (another natural beauty who positively ruined her face due to a seemingly obsessive need to regularly tuck, plump & tighten) route 🙁
PJ you are so right. It makes me sad for the people who monkey around with their faces and end up worse off. I love a natural aging process. My neck and decollete are starting to show the signs of aging (boobs also falling – sheesh!) and I don’t love it, but I’m trying to embrace a different type of beauty, one that includes wisdom, compassion and a wicked sense of humor from having seen so much!
One thing I noticed on her show was how utterly beautiful she is without makeup. Granted that was almost 15 years ago but I’d be willing to bet she still looks better with a nude face.
She messes around with fillers and picked up a bit of an alcohol habit. Doubtful she’s still as stunning with those vices, but I agree–back in the Newlyweds days, she was gorgeous without trying.
I remember after their split most people were team nick, but the articles I read made me think he was controlling. What does anyone who actually watched the show think?
He wasn’t controlling but frustrated, because her family overly babied her and she lacked basic life skills and wasn’t interested in learning them. On top of her dad sexually harassing Nick.
This. He was serious but I couldnt blame him. He was married to a tween in a grown womans body. I remember how hard he tried to get her to be financially responsible with no luck because her father kept sabotaging him. He even tried to explain to her that money runs out and pop star careers have a shelf life and that life had to continue when the cameras packed up but she would just sulk and go shopping anyway. She is incredibly lucky that her parents licensed out her brand when they did and that they hired good managers. She could easily have ended up a Lohan, hawking her ass to Russian oligarchs for a few new pairs of shoes.
She acted like a spoiled tween on the show and her family was enabling it constantly, so it was jarring that she was actually a married adult.
Joe Simpson was beyond creepy. I remember the episode where they were filming one of her music videos in which she made out with Nick and Joe was there next to the camera bragging about how she could have all the sex she wanted now that she was married. The whole emphasis on how she remained a virgin until marriage at her ex-minister father’s behest is pretty hilarious given she went on to have two kids before marrying her current husband, and also I’m sure Joe Simpson is not extramaritally chaste anymore either!
Nick was always polite to service people on the show, that always stuck out to me. He was a grown up.
TOURMALINE, her father used to make comments about her DD breasts publicly. It made my skin crawl.
Yes, she was far too immature. Maybe he should have realized before putting a ring on it, but maybe he thought her family would show themselves the door once they were married. They didn’t. It also never helped that she spent at Louis Vuitton and Mercedes like there was no tomorrow.
Nick also said years ago (once Jessica’s dad divorced her mom and came out), that her dad would hit on/touch him inappropriately. Add in some MTV cameras and a level of fame Jess didn’t previously have and BOOM. Marriage destruction.
I was always team Jess….she was hilarious.
As Monkeeeyz said, he wasn’t controlling. He was/is a pretty chill guy but she was too young at the time and I guess he thought she’d grow up once they were married. But then the money came and I think that just exacerbated her laziness etc. She wanted to throw money at the problem while he couldn’t grasp how anyone was so unable/unwilling to do even the most basic things for themselves. I always found it so interesting to see their respective group of friends on the show. These two people lived in different worlds.
I loved it when Nick was interviewed by Andy Cohen on WWHL and he said the best thing about being divorced from Jessica was not having to play grab ass with Joe Simpson.
I always thought her father was sexually harassing Nick.
Face it, it’s probably true…and it’s probably also true that Jessica has no opinion whatsoever about her father’s perversion or hypocrisy.
Stale tea alert!
Even 10 year old me could see they were very different from each other but they were gorgous and I was a 98 degrees fan so watched. The most entertaining part was watching Jessica adjust to having to do things “on her own” and Nick having to be the adult in the relationship. Jess started to earn move money than Nick that definitely hurt his pride. Add that to a creepy father in law and a failing music career…… doomed. Thank heavens they didn’t have a child.
Do you know what tea is? Because there is none in your post, stale or otherwise.
I took the comment to mean that this post, the gossip in this post, is stale tea. Not that the commenter was providing any tea.
This reminds me how much I used love reality shows. It was actually reality in the late 90’s, or 2000’s. Now it’s all fake fights and drama. I don’t think Jessica is smart but the show definitely played it up. And Nick did say there were problems in the marriage but Jessica’s father was too involved. Marriage is hard with two people, much harder with three.
I didn’t watch too many back then, mostly just surfed around and watched bits and pieces, but reading this reminded me that early reality TV was definitely more real and authentic. It seems so quaint now.
VH1’s “Celebreality” timeframe is a golden age of TV for me. All the “I Love -Flavor Flav, NY, etc” shows, “Rock of Love” then the “I Love Money” challenge spin off. All fantastic “real” reality TV before people started to learn how to play the reality game.
This is so dumb but I once ordered a fish dish that was mistakenly delivered a chicken dish and could not tell and neither could anyone else who tried my dish lol so it could happen.
I have their whole show on dvd and watch it from time to time. I still love it. They were such a gorgeous couple! I think there were too many outside influences in their marriage from the get-go. There were always cameras and in-laws (Jessica’s parents) in their faces constantly. That would put a strain on any marriage. They were adorable though.
Oh, this show was everything! I just moved to the US and lived in a similar climate to that in Los Angleles, in a similar (in my mind) looking McMansion and was the same age as Jessica. Couldn’t figure out why they would ever break up! The early 2000s were so carefree and prosperous – everyone was getting a nice house with no down payment or credit history. And we had a sane Republican president! Miss it!
???
Yes, those were good years
I can’t tell if you’re kidding …
who was the sane Republican president you are referring to? Bush????? No. he was not. Absolutely not.
Bad troll is bad.
Dudes, by current standards Bush was completely sane. We didn’t know how good we had it!
Yep and Nixon is probably somewhere saying “Thank you” since he’s no longer identified as the worst president ever!
The show was basically a countdown to their divorce. If it hadn’t been for her family imposing strict religious views on her, they would have just lived together for awhile and and figured out it wasn’t meant to be.
I watched the show from the beginning and it was indeed a countdown. The first couple of seasons they actually spent time together and would be in their house a lot. By the last season they would just Skype each other while Nick was at home and Jessica was working. They were so different but I’m glad they both seem happy now.
There is a podcast called the Smush Room that dives into early 2000s relationships tha many people may have forgotten. They had an episode on nick and kim k dating right after the divorce and its dives a lot into the jessica/nick split. So interesting!!!
this IS interesting. will look it up.
The first I ever heard of Kim K was when she supposedly went out with Nick once or twice. She was described as a closet organizer.
The best scene was when NIck and his brother were moving a couch or something up a stairway and they busted a hole in the wall, and Jessica asked if they have to go to the “wall store” to get a new wall??? Nick just looked at her like, well, how he usually looked at her when she said things like that, and she said “is it Walmart? Don’t they sell walls?” BAHAHAHAHA
I think that was Paris Hilton
Beyond the issues that were mentioned above (immarity, no life skills, meddling dad) Jessica became more famous from the reality show than she ever was as a singer. Her head was very turned by the opportunities and she listened to her dad that kept telling her she was bigger than her marriage. She may have been genuine the first season, but toward the end you could see how much she was playing to the cameras (she’s one of those people who you says things that she think will play well) and how tense things were. And she never ended up being able to catch that lightning in a bottle again, despite many successive tries.
It’s funny, because the opportunities that were coming at her that seemed high profile at the time were things like a supporting role in The Dukes Of Hazzard, and hanging out with the Jackass guys.
Right. She got lucky with the Macy’s name licensing and her father was a closeted, controlling, creepy Bush-era hypocrite. You’d think she could get a job playing the dumb chick on a sitcom, but I guess why work if you don’t have to?
Plus don’t forget she cheated with some guy aptly named Bam Magera. I remember actually laughing at that name.
He’s one of the Jackass guys.
I unapologetically love Jessica Simpson.
All I can say is Pretty People made Pretty Babies – all of their children (with their respective spouses) are soooo cute
The last season all who watched felt the tension. Nick tried really hard but Jessica was over it. She wanted to go have more sex with the jackass crew. Gross.
Which says all I need to know about how the Simpsons played the faux Christians role to the hilt. Didn’t Ashlee have a shotgun wedding too?
This was my favorite show back in ththe day. I was in college and I remember asking for the DVDs for Christmas. It was TV gold. When Jessica posted about Whole Foods the other day it brought such fond nostalgia!
I wonder why the producer is talking about this 15-year-old show now?
Anyone who watched the show for more than 5 minutes knew everything that this former producer is now “revealing”(?) 12 years later 😒
As an aside, 2003/2004 era Jessica looked FANTASTIC in that blue & red striped dress! (I was in my middle two years of college when ‘Newlyweds’ peaked and I always loved her cute, casual style. Remember when she made sparkly knit shawls a-verrry short lived-thing?! Those were the days 😄)
Never watched it but can I just point out the
resemblance with bearded dad and Ben Affleck?? Yikes.
The guy with the beard is Jessica’s husband.
I just came here to say I LOL’d at her tweet to Whole Foods for like a full minute
SAME SAME.
I always think she was (is) Pamela Anderson beautiful. Both so absolutely stunning before fiddling about with their faces. But both with a touch of tackiness. Jessica’s kids are to die for – soooooo cute. Never watched the show because at the time I found her truly annoying (and her sister) but actually think I might give it a go.