Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey during 2004 MTV Video Music Awards. Photo / Getty
Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey during 2004 MTV Video Music Awards. Photo / Getty
By Bronte Coy.
"Is this chicken that I'm eating? I know it's tuna, but it says chicken of the sea."
Their relationship may have died and gone to celebrity romance heaven, but Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey's short marriage will live on as legend thanks to a little reality TVshow we all loved called Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica.
It was 2003, and the teen pop couple had both been living for years in the shadows of their rivals.
That all changed and they became household names after they signed up to film their first few months of marriage, and the show became a smash hit success.
But after three seasons, both the series and their relationship came crashing down.
So what was it really like behind-the-scenes as Lachey and Simpson's stars rose, and their love died?
Speaking to Complex, LA-based producer Sue Kolinsky admitted she "had no idea who Jessica was" before she began working on the show, and that her infamous "dumb blonde" moments were legit.
"There were times when we were like, 'hmm, does she really not know what this means?'" Kolinsky told the magazine.
"I truly believe the whole 'chicken and fish' situation was accurate. She really did not know. I remember there was a scene where there was a dead mouse by their pool and it had been dead for a while.
Nick said, "it's in rigor mortis" and Jessica said, 'Riga-what?' I truly believe she didn't know what that meant."
She added that while they were both "nice", Lachey was "a little more accessible" than his then-wife.
Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey during 2005 MTV Video Music Awards. Photo / Getty
But towards the end of the series, it became clear to everyone that their marriage was spiralling.
"You could feel there was tension between the two of them. They were very different people," Kolinsky explained.
"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."
Newlyweds was one of the very first reality TV shows exposing private lives, and Kolinsky believes that the genre back then was "at its purest form."
"It was a whole new genre. Plus, [Nick & Jessica] were perfect because they were polar opposites, they were beautiful, and without even realising it, they were very funny.
"I just chose [to work on] Newlyweds because it sounded fun to be inside the world of somebody's brand new marriage. As soon as we started looking at the footage and I saw the 'is this chicken or fish?' [scene], I knew it was going to be a really fun ride."
