Hello my life. That’s whatJessica Simpsonremembers thinking the first time she sawNick Lacheyat a Hollywood Christmas party in 1998.
Simpson writes candidly of their romance, as well astheir breakup, in her heartfelt upcoming memoirOpen Book, excerpted in this week’s issue of PEOPLE.
“He was my first love,” Simpson tells PEOPLE. She writes, “Nick loved the fact I was so strong in my faith and that I had this wide-eyed innocent approach to life. When he proposed in 2002, I said yes.”
Mike Rosenthal
But as she recounts in her book, the toll of nonstop work, the constant presence of cameras, and the fact that they grew apart as they grew up, made her realize it wasn’t meant to last.
“We were young and pioneering our way through reality television, always miced and always on,” says Simpson, now 39. “We worked and we were great at it but when it came time to being alone, we weren’t great at it anymore.”
Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson in 2003.
Looking back, she says, “I respect Nick very much. I was really young and my success hadn’t really begun. He knew me as this young innocent 18-year-old that had never been introduced to the world in so many ways. I went straight from my father to him. Nick’s very smart. He was eight years older than me, but he was also young.”
“We meant a lot to each other and we always will,” she says of Lachey, now married toVanessa Minnillo Lachey, with whom he has three kids. “I want to be very respectful because I married him for a reason and we were together for seven years for a reason. He has a family now and I would never say anything to disrespect that.”
Still, she admits of those years, “I didn’t know myself.”
Self-knowledge would come with therapy and self-examination, andthe clarity she foundin 2017 aftergiving up alcohol, which she had used tomask her painfor years. (She narrates that journey in heraudio book,which will also include six new songs.)
“We’re connected soul, body, heart and spirit,” she says.
Jessica Simpson’sOpen Book.
For more fromJessica Simpsonand an exclusive excerpt fromOpen Book, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.
If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, please contact the SAMHSA substance abuse helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.
source: people.com
