Why Nick Lachey Feels He Has “Leg Up” Marrying Vanessa Lachey After Jessica Simpson Breakup

And Vanessa noted it’s nothing to have regrets about, adding, “We all have messy pasts, all of us.”

Nick—who has said his relationship with Jessica ended in part because they were “playing these parts,” with their fame impacting their “reality”—has previously been open about the scars it gave him.

“I, too, was previously married, divorced,” the 98 Degrees alum told a contestant on season three of The Ultimatum in 2024, “so I understand the hurt, the scars that exist from that.”

“Don’t let your past define your future,” Nick advised at the time. “What I truly always wanted in my life, which 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 I have with this woman.”