Nick Lachey reveals heartbreaking detail about Jessica Simpson divorce in rare comment

Despite having divorced almost two decades ago, musician and Love Is Blind host Nick Lachey has shared some details on his marriage with former flame, Jessica Simpson.

Speaking on the latest Netflix series of The Ultimatum - which he hosts alongside his long term wife Vanessa - he reflected on his first marriage, claiming some of the pain from their split continues to linger all these years later.

Nick recently reflected on his first marriage (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

For those out of the loop with the high profile romance, Nick and Jessica tied the knot in 2002, after first meeting at the Hollywood Christmas Parade in Los Angeles four years earlier.

Nick had been fronting the boyband 98 Degrees at the time, whilst Jessica was already a relatively successful solo artist, with the pair working under the same manager.

Announcing the news of their engagement at the time, Jessica wrote on her personal website: "Nick Lachey asked me to marry him in a very romantic way and I said yeeeeeeeeeeeessssss!!!"

After exchanging vows, the pair went on to front the popular US reality series Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, and front the special one-off episode, The Nick and Jessica Variety Hour.

Just three years later, however - following mass tabloid speculation over the status of their relationship, the couple announced their plans to separate and their divorce was finalised in 2006.

The couple married in 2002 (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

That year, however, Nick went on to meet Vanessa Minnillo - who starred in the music video for his track 'What's Left Of Me' - after which they started dating, tying the knot in 2011.

Despite having been together for 13 years - and welcoming three gorgeous children together - however, Lacey has recently made a pretty controversial admission about the feelings he still harbours for his first wife.

Speaking to a fellow divorced contestant on the streaming service dating show that he and Vanessa present together, he explained: "I, too, was previously married, divorced, so I understand the hurt, the scars that exist from that."

He went on to advise, however: "Don’t let your past define your future.

"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 realised the beautiful life I have with this woman."

Nick and Vanessa have since welcomed three children together (Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Feld Entertainment)

Jessica, meanwhile, went on to wed retired American Football star Eric Johnson in 2014 after four years of dating.

Like her ex, she and Eric welcomed three children of their own together.

The most recent comment she made about her split from Nick was back in 2022, when she was asked on The Real about her decision to feature their marriage on a television series.

"I don't regret that at all. I mean, if anything, it was great TV," she insisted. "It was very real, and Nick and I actually had a lot of fun."