It's Official

[Bubba]

Simpson, Lachey Officially Call It Quits

Thursday, November 24, 2005



LOS ANGELES — Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey, who turned mid-level music careers into Hollywood superstardom by celebrating their marriage in an MTV reality show and television specials, are calling it quits after months of persistent breakup rumors.

The couple announced their separation Wednesday.

"After three years of marriage, and careful thought and consideration, we have decided to part ways," they said in a joint statement released by their publicists. "This is the mutual decision of two people with an enormous amount of respect and admiration for each other."

Calls seeking further comment from publicists Meredith O' Sullivan and Rob Shuter were not immediately returned early Thursday.

The couple have been dogged by rumors that their marriage was in trouble — Us Weekly reported that they split in an Oct. 17 issue — but Simpson, 25, and Lachey, 32, brushed the speculation aside and insisted they were still together.

In the December-January issue of Teen People, which went on newsstands earlier this month, Simpson denied rumors that the marriage was kaput.

"Hopefully mine and Nick's story will continue for the rest of our lives, like what we vowed, through sickness and in health," said Simpson, who famously professed that she remained a virgin until she got married.

The couple wed in October 2002, back when they were known simply as pop singers. But Simpson hadn't achieved the multiplatinum successes of peers Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, while Lachey was a member of the boy band 98 Degrees, which sold far fewer albums than such acts as 'N Sync and Backstreet Boys.

The couple's reality show, "Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica," which chronicled their daily lives in a new California home, turned them into stars. The show, which ran for three seasons, made Simpson infamous for her dippy-blonde moments, including the time she confused the tuna she was eating for chicken, or when she eschewed Buffalo wings because "I don't eat buffalo."

Simpson's star status has begun to outshine Lachey's. She played Daisy Duke in this summer's hit movie "The Dukes of Hazzard," and she endorses "Dessert," a beauty line that includes flavored body creams. Lachey, whose solo album has had disappointing sales, appeared in some episodes of the sitcom "Charmed."

Besides appearing in "Newlyweds," the couple entertained U.S. troops earlier this year in the ABC special "Nick & Jessica's Tour of Duty," and last year they hosted the ABC variety special "Nick & Jessica's Family Christmas." A coffee table book, "Jessica Simpson I Do: Achieving Your Dream Wedding," also was released last year.

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_frien...176620,00.html



Do you suppose I have a chance now?

[TexKan]

Awwwww.........guess I'll never get to know who the hell they are - why they were so important......OR what she WAS gonna get for Christmas...... ho hum.....Sorry Bubba I know she's cute and all but they just never did it for me......Tried to watch thier "overseas troop" show....got so bored had to turn on talk radio.....

[Highwayman]

Originally Posted by Bubba

Do you suppose I have a chance now?

Bubba, if you could afford Jessica Simpson, you would have had better a long time ago.

[K C Muffin]

Hiway, shame on you - you're being pretty hard on ole Bub! Of course he has a chance. So do a million other guys. Be prepared, though - she ain't cheap to keep!

[Lone Gunman]

Originally Posted by K C Muffin

Hiway, shame on you - you're being pretty hard on ole Bub! Of course he has a chance. So do a million other guys. Be prepared, though - she ain't cheap to keep!

I know she's too high rent for this old fart. I don't have any where near big enough bank account for her. Besides that I could never put up with all her crap.

[Highwayman]

That’s my point LG. A lot of good women out there that don’t expect too live that high on the hog.

[hoarsewhisperer]

Sure Bubba! goahead! May the force be with you! :green:

[Bubba]

Originally Posted by Highwayman

Bubba, if you could afford Jessica Simpson, you would have had better a long time ago.

I shouldn't have to afford her! She is the rich one...I was hoping she could be my sugar momma!!

[Highwayman]

Originally Posted by Bubba

I shouldn't have to afford her! She is the rich one...I was hoping she could be my sugar momma!!

If that were the case, go for it! I could put up with a lot of stuff if the woman wanted to keep me in the kind of style that I’d like to become accustomed to.

Somehow I don’t think it works that way.

[Lone Gunman]

She'd probably want me to sign a pre-nup stating I only got $14.00 a week and if we split I have to pay it all back.