Oh, Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson. It was a match first made in teen pop music heaven and then immortalized on reality television. Fans of the singing sensations, gossip columnists and divorce attorneys in Pasadena were all shocked when the couple divorced after three years of marriage. Now, five years later, Lachey and Simpson are both ready to walk down the aisle again - just not with one another.
Call it a coincidence or call it celebrity exes still in sync, but it was hard not to compare the respective engagements of Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey when they were announced last week. From disastrous and public relationships with football player Tony Roma and musician John Mayer, Jessica Simpson has certainly been on the love rollercoaster since she and Lachey parted ways in 2005. Apparently Simpson met her prince charming last May in NFL player Eric Johnson. The couple announced they were engaged over the weekend as Johnson reportedly gave Simpson a massive ruby and diamond Neil Lane engagement ring.
Over at Team Lachey, his engagement to Vanessa Minnillo had been a few years longer in the making. Minnillo, an actress seen on series likepsych, CSI: NY, and How I Met Your Mother, started dating Lachey several years ago after she met him on the set of his music video. The pair broke up in 2009 but got back together later that year. Since then, Minnillo and Lachey have been inseparable. As to what took the couple so long to get engaged, Lachey tells People magazine "all things have their appropriate time. We're still basking in the glow of our very recent engagement and enjoying that. I'm sure we'll get on with the planning and what-not shortly, but we're just enjoying this experience."
While neither Lachey nor Simpson has had much success in the musical arena over the last decade, the two stars remain busy. Lachey returns as the host of NBC's The Sing-Off on December 6 while Simpson is busy promoting her new album of holiday songs entitled Happy Christmas.