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Sugar-coated 'Christmas'
Wed Dec 1, 6:34 AM ET
By Donna Freydkin, USA TODAY
America's most famous Newlyweds-no-more
want to let you in on a little secret: They plan to stay married for a good,
long time.
So ignore any rumors you might have heard about
Jessica Simpson (news)
and Nick Lachey (news),
they say.
"We're madly in love," Simpson says.
"I have my wedding ring. We're happier now than we've been in so long, and
every single thing that's been printed about us in the past few weeks is
bull."
That would include claims about friction in the
couple's heavily scrutinized union, which is shared with millions on the MTV
reality series Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica. He's jealous of her success!
She doesn't wear her wedding ring! She's partying in Louisiana, where she's
playing Daisy Duke in the big-screen version of The Dukes of Hazzard!
And the latest claim: strife on the set of
their ABC variety special, Nick & Jessica's Family Christmas, which
airs Wednesday (9:01 p.m. ET/PT).
Not true, they say. Not only did the Simpson
and Lachey clans bond during the day-long shoot, but Simpson, 24, and Lachey,
31, loved working together. The two open the show with Baby It's Cold Outside,
and Simpson and little sister Ashlee duet on Little Drummer Boy.
"My family was so offended last night
because they were saying that our families didn't get along - and everyone had
so much fun together," Simpson says.
Adds Lachey: "It was the first time our
family's been (together) since our wedding. It's been frustrating for us because
our reality has never wavered and we know where things stand. We support each
other's careers. Some of it's together and some of it's separate."
Simpson and Lachey seemed chipper when they
called from Texas, where they had finished celebrating Thanksgiving with
Simpson's family.
Simpson will return to Baton Rouge to continue
shooting The Dukes of Hazzard through mid-February. Perhaps after she
wraps, Lachey will see his spouse in her short-shorts.
"She's hoarding them," he says.
"She left them in Louisiana. But I can see her without the Daisys."
When they're apart, which has been much of the
time, the two rely on technology to stay in touch: "I'm really good at
text-messaging," Simpson says.
And chatting on the phone.
"We talk first thing in the morning and
last thing at night and throughout the day," her husband says.
Lachey, meanwhile, goes back to work on his
second solo album. Its creation is being documented by cameras for yet another
MTV reality series that premieres in March.
And cameras are also rolling on MTV's Newlyweds,
the show that turned the shopaholic Simpson and long-suffering Lachey into
household names. The third and final series is scheduled for a premiere in
January. And then it's over for good, so enjoy the final glimpses of Simpson
getting in shape for Hazzard and the couple celebrating their second
anniversary.
"We get sick of the cameras," Simpson
says.
"This is the last hurrah. We both
recognize the huge benefit it's been for us and our careers. We'll pass the
torch to some other couple."
Britney Spears (news)
and Kevin Federline, perhaps?
"God bless 'em and let 'em have it!"
Lachey says with a laugh. |
