How Vanessa & Nick Lachey Made A Career On Relationship Drama

Although Gen Z may know celebrity hosts Vanessa and Nick Lachey from Netflix reality romance television shows Love is Blind and The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On, the Lacheys have a longer history in building a career on relationship drama — much of which was constructed upon their own relationship drama. While the two have now been happily married for over a decade and share three children together, their relationship hasn’t always been all rainbows and butterflies — but instead of letting the drama tear them apart, they strategically used it to their advantage. The Lacheys’ joint career founded on tears and tabloids has earned the couple a combined net worth of approximately $25 million dollars, according to Celebrity Net Worth (so clearly, they must have done something right). 

Here is a quick rundown on how Vanessa and Nick Lachey built their celebrity empire on relationship drama.

The Lacheys Started Off Doing Their Own Thing

Prior to meeting in 2003 on MTV’s Total Request Live, the Lacheys weren’t the Lacheys — they were Vanessa Minnillo, beauty pageant star and model, and Nick Lachey, boy band pop phenomenon. Yup — Nick got his start as a vocalist and teenage heartthrob in the boy band 98 Degrees (AKA the OG One Direction) with Justin Jeffree, Jeff Timmons, and his brother, Drew Lachey. The pop band was a major hit in the late 1990s, perhaps best known for their song “Invisible Man,” a harmonic and romantic ballad that peaked at number 12 on Billboard Hot 100. 

Vanessa, on the other hand, rose to fame through modeling in beauty pageants before delving into the world of acting and hosting. 

The Relationship Drama BEGAN With JEssica Simpson

In 2002, Nick and pop singer Jessica Simpson tied the knot and documented their budding romance on the celebrity romance reality show Newlyweds. The show followed the ups and downs of the celebrity couple’s married life, giving viewers a glimpse into real celebrity romance (well, as real as celebrity romance can get, anyway). The pair quickly became tabloid sensations in the early 2000s, their names boldly plastered on the headlines of obnoxiously colorful magazines in the checkout aisles at grocery stores.

But several years later, the couple’s relationship started going south — and this is where things get interesting. Allegedly, Jessica paid Nick $12 million dollars following their divorce, since she didn’t sign a prenup (later, Jessica called her marriage the “biggest money mistake” she ever made). A source close to Nick claimed that this was the most money Nick made throughout his entire music career (see, relationship drama can be the foundation for a successful career).

The Music Video That Started The Lacheys’ Empire

Shortly after Nick’s and Jessica’s very public split in 2006, Vanessa starred in Nick’s music video for his song “What’s Left of Me,” spurring a wave of drama and controversy concerning Nick’s quick rebound and the two’s (potential) relationship status. The song is allegedly about Nick’s and Jessica’s breakup, with Vanessa portraying Jessica in the video. 

Later, Vanessa and Nick reportedly admitted that they fell in love while filming — and there’s proof! The young, lovestruck couple can be seen flirting in the behind-the-scenes footage for the music video. In the video, Vanessa teasingly says, “How do we rehearse? Do we go to your trailer?” In response, Nick flirtatiously says back to her, “I think we just kinda have to do what they call ‘improv.’ Wing it. I don’t think there’s rehearsal time.” She later swooned to the camera, “He’s a gem — mini-crush.” 

For months following the steamy music video, fans speculated about the two’s relationship status, unsure if they were an item. But Vanessa and Nick didn’t leave fans guessing long, as they made their romance official on New Year’s Eve in 2007, sealing their love with a big smooch on live television. The two then dated for a few years, broke up in 2009, got engaged in 2010, and finally got married in 2011 — and the Lacheys, the relationship drama celebrity powerhouse, were born.

The Success of The Ultimatum and Love is Blind

In episode six of The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On, Vanessa told the contestants, “[Nick] was literally in a very public marriage and a very public divorce, and I had to go through all that sh*t very publicly, and it was very hard for us.”

The married couple have now co-hosted two seasons of Netflix’s Love is Blind and recently launched Netflix’s The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On, another romantic reality television series that follows the tumultuous lives of six couples, with one partner in each couple offering an ultimatum to their partner: “Marry me, or we break up.” The show is already greenlit for a second season, with this new season allegedly featuring LGBTQIA+ couples. Like Love is Blind, The Ultimatum is so chaotic that it practically reeks of relationship drama — which is what the Lacheys know best. 

However, the Lacheys have a tactical way of lucratively benefiting off other couple’s relationship drama rather than their own — despite undergoing their own relationship drama in the past, they figured out how to leverage their drama-ridden history into a remunerative future. Rather than offering advice to the contestants of both Love is Blind and The Ultimatum, the Lacheys typically stand on the sidelines, posing provocative questions and patiently waiting for the drama to unfold. While it is unclear how much money the Lacheys have collectively earned thus far from both Love is Blind and The Ultimatum, the shows’ rapid successes assure that the Lacheys’ empire is nowhere near collapse.

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