Let’s set the wayback machine to 2003, when we were already complaining about the fact that MTV wasn’t playing videos anymore and revisit a little show called Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica. For three seasons, we watched pretty much the entirety of the marriage of singers Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson, who tied the knot on October 26, 2002. The show is probably best known for the infamous “Chicken of the Sea” incident, where Jess couldn’t figure out if she was eating tuna or chicken out of a can.
Complex published an interview with the show’s producer, Sue Kolinsky, on Monday. Sue, who also served as a producer on other reality shows, including The Osbournes, Last Comic Standing and Top Chef, dished on her experiences working on Newlyweds. She revealed that, unlike many a reality show where the term reality is used quite loosely, Newlyweds wasn’t nearly as scripted as you may have thought it was, telling Complex, “It was a whole new genre. When it comes to reality TV, back then it was at its purest form. Plus, [Nick and Jessica] were perfect because they were polar opposites, they were beautiful and without even realizing it, they were very funny.”
As for whether or not Jessica had perfected a “dumb blonde” shtick while on the show, Sue said, “There were times when we were like, ‘Hm, does she really not know what this means?’ I truly believe the whole ‘chicken & fish’ situation was accurate. She really did not know.” Fortunately, Jessica still maintains a good sense of humor about the incident. On Sunday, she posted a screenshot from a Time magazine article with the headline “Whole Foods Discovered Its Chicken Salad Actually Had Tuna” to Instagram on Sunday with the caption, “It happens to the best of us @wholefoods.”
Nick and Jessica may have made for good television, but they obviously weren’t made for each other, splitting after the show’s last series aired in 2005. Sue saw it coming, remembering at the time that:
You could feel there was tension between the two of them. They were very different people. He was a blue collar guy—he did a lot of things himself, like he and his brother would build things. He was frugal, and she had excessive taste. In the end they weren’t suited for each other. The only thing they really had in common was their music. She was really young; I think he’s seven years older than her. He wanted a family, and her father thought maybe she was too young. Her father was very involved in her life.
Don’t cry for Nick and Jessica though, they both came out of this okay. Nick married Vanessa Minnillo in 2011 and had three kids, daughter Brooklyn, 2 and sons Camden, 4 and Phoenix, 7 months. Jessica married Eric Johnson in July of 2014 and has two kids of her own daughter Maxwell, 5 and son Ace, 4. Jessica has a successful fashion line (including some lovely, yet uncomfortable shoes) and Nick Lachey was immortalized on The Soup (RIP). And, if you’ll now excuse me, I’m off to YouTube to find clips of Newlyweds to watch. I didn’t realize how much I enjoyed that show.
Photos: Getty Images, WENN.com
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