Page Six is reporting that Jessica Simpson is being pushed by her father, Joe Simpson, as Paula Abdul’s replacement on American Idol. We’ve already heard rumors that Victoria Beckham wants to be more than just a one-time judge – so is this a battle royale between Posh and Jess? Which one knows more about the music industry? Which one would give better advice? Actually, putting Jessica on to replace Paula might be sort of brilliant. Instead of Paula’s cracked-out comments and slurred speech, we could have Jessica’s epic malapropisms and ditzy/drunk comments. It might work!

USA Today got ahold of Redskins quarterback Colt Brennan to ask him if last week’s report that he and Jessica were dating was true. Colt says no way - but he’s sort of charming about it, telling the newspaper, “My life coach, (Redskins TE) Chris Cooley, said that I should neither confirm nor deny it. But me being an honest guy, I have no idea what that’s about.” He actually sounds half-way interested. Jessica should go for it!

In one last piece of Jessica Simpson news, Nick Lachey’s brother Drew told Us Weekly that a Nick and Jess “Newleyweds Part Deux” reunion was not in the cards:

Sorry, Newlyweds fans: Nick and Jessica won’t ever get back together. Asked at Saturday’s Los Angeles Lakers 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament if they’ll ever reunite, Drew Lachey told Usmagazine.com: “On the record or off the record? No on both.”

Nick and Jessica – who split in 2006 – recently ended relationships around the same time. Nick and Vanessa Minnillo called it quits this summer, shortly before Tony Romo dumped Jessica before her 29th birthday in July.

When told that people want to see Nick and Jessica back together, Drew told Us, “I think everybody who was a fan of The Newlyweds wants the same thing.”

Jessica recently told Vanity Fair she hadn’t spoken to Nick “in years.” But she said their MTV reality show helped her realize the importance of good relationships.

“It made me understand what marriage is, what love is, what commitment is,” she said. “In all honesty, I believe it did not affect our marriage. Because we enjoyed watching those episodes, and that will always be a time I cherish.”

[From Us Weekly]

Yeah, I really don’t think Nick wants to go there again, and he’s probably been very vocal about it to friends and family. Thankfully, Nick has been pretty gracious in public – although I would love to hear his take on Papa Joe. You know Nick has a ton of Papa Joe stories, and they’re probably all disgusting.

Update: Jessica Simpson’s rep has denied this report, saying “There is absolutely no truth to this.”

Here’s Jessica performing in Texas on May 9th. Images thanks to Pacific Coast News.

There’s an juicy inset story in Star’s article this week about Jessica Simpson’s supposed planned tell-all book about her love life. According to Star, Jessica has been cyber flirting with a player for the Washington Redskins who’s described as the archenemy of Jessica’s ex, Tony Romo! Apparently quarterback Colt Brennan initiated the relationship and Jessica is more than happy to reciprocate now that she’s single. From what Star is reporting, it hasn’t gone behind remote communication yet, but Colt sent Jessica football tickets and hopes she’ll show up to one of his games.

Game on! Jess is flirting her way to a romance with ex Tony Romo’s archenemy – Washington Redskins quarterback Colt Brennan! “This is a huge stab in the back for Tony, because the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Redskins hate each other,” a source tells Star. “Jessica must really want revenge!” Colt, 26, began chasing Jessica back in July with sexy e-mails and text messages. The pair even set up webcams so they could chat face-to-face through their computers. And now, “Colt sent Jessica tickets for his Sept. 13 game against the N.Y. Giants,” the source adds. “And on July 31, Colt FedEx’d her a Redskins jersey. If she wears that jersey to the game, you know it means she’s playing rough!”

[From Star Magazine, print edition, August 24, 2009]

I hope this is true and not just wishful thinking by Star. On the other hand, they make it sound like this guy is motivated out of an urge to get back at his rival, not because he’s genuinely interested in Jess. Maybe he knows what he’s getting into though, and really wants to date her. Simpson is definitely a loyal girlfriend who will stick with a guy and try to please him. There are plenty of guys who aren’t intimidated by that and find it endearing. Nick Lachey, for instance.

Speaking of Nick, The National Enquirer has an amusing story this week that Jessica called Nick (it sounds like a drunk dialing situation) and got shot down. This is pretty similar to a story that ran in Star three weeks ago, only in their version Nick and Jessica actually had lunch before Nick told her he wasn’t going to give their relationship another shot.

Giddy with excitement, Jessica phoned Nick – who claims in interviews they haven’t spoken in two years. “Nick was stunned to hear her voice,” said one insider. “It was awkward, and he didn’t really know what to say. After about 15 minutes of pleasantries, Jessica finally got up the nerve to ask if they could get together for a drink.” Then, just like Tony Romo, Nick drop-kicked her heart! “He was very to the point – and Jessica just wasn’t prepared for it. He said he was sorry about her breakup with Tony, but getting together for a drink, dinner or anything at all was not in the cards for him – now or ever.” Stunned, Jessica sat speechless as Nick added gently: “It’s best to leave things as they are.”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, Mike Walker's column, August 24, 2009]

I feel sorry for Jessica, but she has good friends and family and she’ll get through this. Maybe she’ll be out with a new boyfriend again before long, but I think she should wait a while and make sure she’s happy on her own before jumping into another relationship.

Jessica Simpson is shown out with her hairdresser, Ken Paves, on 8/5/09. Credit: WENN.com. Colt Brennan is shown in 2008, photo via his website