2002: Marriage to Nick Lachey and TV success

Simpson in 2004

During the summer of 2003, the reality show, Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, starring Simpson and her then-new husband Nick Lachey began airing on MTV. Simpson's third album, In This Skin, was released in August 2003 to coincide with the series premiere of Newlyweds.

The show quickly became a pop culture phenomenon and is credited with making her a household name, even among those who did not follow pop music or MTV. “I never knew that just doing the show would give me that pedestal to step on,” Simpson told Blender magazine in a March 2004 feature.[7]

The associated album, In This Skin, debuted at #10 on The Billboard 200 album chart, with sales of 64,000 in its first week. It rebounded after a special collectors' edition was released in April 2004 and subsequently reached a peak at #2.[6] It was eventually certified triple platinum. It contained the song "Sweetest Sin", which barely even made an impact on the Bubbling Under Hot 100. However, the album did contain the hit singles "With You" (#14, 2004) and a cover of the Berlin song "Take My Breath Away" (#20, 2004), and a lesser hit, a cover of the Robbie Williams song "Angels", which charted just outside the Billboard Hot 100.[4]

The couple starred in the television special The Nick and Jessica Variety Hour, which aired in 2004 and was compared to The Sonny & Cher Show.[8] Simpson released Rejoyce: The Christmas Album in late 2004, which peaked at #14 on the album chart and was later certified gold.[9]

In 2005, Newlyweds won a People's Choice Award for Favorite Reality Show before wrapping shortly after.

On October 26, 2002, at age 22, Simpson married Nick Lachey.[40] She famously announced she had remained a virgin until her marriage.[41] In November 2005, after months of tabloid speculation, Simpson and Lachey announced they were separating. Simpson filed for divorce on December 16, 2005, citing "irreconcilable differences."[42][43] The couple's divorce was publicized worldwide and was reportedly finalized on June 30, 2006.[44]

Simpson told Jane magazine in October 2006 that she knew her marriage to Lachey was over when he refused to join her on a charity trip to Africa, even though it was on their third wedding anniversary.[45]

The couple sold their Calabasas mansion, in which Newlyweds was filmed, to Malcolm in the Middle star Justin Berfield for an undisclosed amount.[46]Simpson received increased publicity following her divorce, reportedly having romances with her Employee of the Month co-star Dane Cook and Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine. On February 6, 2007, the Associated Press reported that Simpson said she was stung when her ex-husband jumped back into dating after their high-profile breakup. "Oh, it hurt me," the 26-year-old singer-actress says in an interview in the March issue of Elle. "Two or three weeks later? Yeah, I'd say it kind of hurt me."[47]

Following her divorce, Simpson had an off-and-on relationship with musician John Mayer. Dating rumors started in August 2006 with a People magazine article, but kicked into high gear when Simpson and Mayer spent New Year's holiday together in New York City, both attending Christina Aguilera's New Years Eve 2006 party.[48] The couple eventually parted ways for good in May 2007.[49]

In November 2007, Simpson began dating Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. The relationship is controversial among many Dallas Cowboys fans, as she is blamed when Romo has poor football performances as exemplified by a December game in which the Cowboys lost to the Philadelphia Eagles.[50] Some of the Cowboy's fans have given her the nickname Yoko Romo in comparison to Yoko Ono who many Beatles fans blame for "ruining" John Lennon.[51] This was further fueled when the Cowboys lost to the Giants in the divisional playoffs, when Romo & Simpson went on a trip during the Cowboy's bye week. FOX broadcaster Terry Bradshaw called into question Simpson and Romo vacationing in Mexico.

"If only Tony had called me and said, 'Terry, Jessica [Simpson] and I are going to go to Mexico,' I would've told him: 'You crazy? Don't do that! The paparazzi is going to find you, man. You're a star. She's a star. It's just going to happen,' " Bradshaw said in an interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.[52]

Even President Bush jokingly endorsed the "Jessica jinx" after the Giants went on to win the Super Bowl in 2008. During the traditional White House reception for the winning team, the president quipped, "We're going to send Jessica Simpson to the Democrat National Convention." Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.