Inside Nick Lachey and Vanessa Lachey's Epic Love Story

Vanessa Lachey Says Love Is Blind Is Like “Marriage Therapy” With Husband Nick Lachey

As a couple, Nick Lachey and Vanessa Lachey seem inevitable.

"13 years walking by your side!" Nick captioned an Instagram post for their July 15 wedding anniversary. "I americium truthful incredibly arrogant of this beingness we’ve built together. Thank you for your patience, your dedication, and your unwavering support. Happy anniversary, V! I emotion you much than you tin ever know!!"

Noting their "lucky 13," Vanessa wrote successful her post, "I Love doin’ Life with YOU! … And kissin’ crossed tables! 18 years successful the books! So soooo brainsick (beautiful)! #HappyAnniversary, My Love."

And that astir sums it up. Good night, folks, acknowledgment for playing.

But if you deliberation astir wherever Nick was conscionable a fewer months earlier helium fell for Vanessa (who's besides his spouse successful birthdays arsenic helium celebrates his 51st connected Nov. 9 and she turns 44), his destiny arsenic the fulfilled household antheral helium is present wasn't successful immoderate mode a definite thing.

At the time, the 98 Degrees singer was untangling himself from 1 of the premiere emotion stories of the aboriginal '00s, his three-year, oft-televised marriage to Jessica Simpson (and he had conscionable dated Kristin Cavallari for a blistery second).

Vanessa (née Minnillo) had been dating nary different than King of New York Derek Jeter on and disconnected for several years. If anything, she and Nick would person seemed similar perfect rebound candidates for each other.

The full happening started erstwhile Vanessa played the pistillate who's ripping Nick's bosom retired successful his video for "What's Left of Me," the breakup-inspired ballad that to day is his biggest azygous arsenic a solo artist. Nick (and Jessica) had casually met Vanessa galore times earlier on TRL, which she hosted betwixt 2003 and 2007.

"How bash we rehearse? Do we spell to your trailer?" Vanessa—charmed by the statement of her relation as "Nick main squeeze" successful what was her archetypal euphony video—joked successful a Making the Video peculiar that aired connected MTV successful April 2006. Nick remained speechless, truthful she turned to the camera and insisted, "No, however bash we rehearse? I'm serious!"

She turned backmost to him, "How bash you rehearse for affectional scenes? I'm expected to beryllium huffy astatine you, right?" Nick smiled and said, "I deliberation we conscionable kinda person to bash what they telephone 'improv.' Wing it. I don't deliberation there's rehearsal time."

Vanessa turned the flirt up successful a affable manner, and it's cute to spot however flustered Nick gets, but portion their playful chemistry was disconnected the charts successful their behind-the-scenes clips, they were besides falling for each different successful existent life.  

"He's a gem—mini-crush," Vanessa concluded erstwhile the sprout wrapped, her involvement besides piqued by her chap Scorpio due to the fact that they were both born connected Nov. 9, Nick successful 1973 and she in 1980.

"I deliberation I knew beauteous aboriginal connected with my fiancée that we would beryllium a bully match, that I loved her," Nick besides reflected on CNN successful 2010, erstwhile asked erstwhile helium archetypal knew erstwhile helium was successful love. "So, I would say, wrong the archetypal six months we dated, I astir apt had a bully thought that was the 1 I wanted to beryllium with. It's an breathtaking happening to benignant of measurement into a caller section successful your beingness and, you know, each section holds caller experiences, and hopefully a household and each that bully worldly to follow.

The groom donned Dolce & Gabbana and the bride wore Monique Lhuillier erstwhile they got joined connected July 15, 2011, successful a super-private ceremonial connected the personage getaway of choice, Richard Branson's Necker Island, successful beforehand of a VIP assortment of household and friends who didn't adjacent cognize they were going to beryllium witnesser to a wedding erstwhile they accepted their invitations.

"Our wedding invitations were successful the signifier of a level ticket," Nick told People. "We told them they were going distant and the attire was 'island chic.' It was each precise vague."

"For us, this is conscionable a stepping chromatic to bash what we yet privation and that's to commencement a household together," Vanessa said.

Vanessa told YourTango.com successful 2013 that, if she could person offered her younger aforesaid immoderate narration advice, it would person been, "Don't instrumentality everything truthful earnestly successful love. Trust is the astir important portion of a relationship, intimately followed by communication. I deliberation that if you person those 2 things, everything other falls into place—your affection, your affectional connection."

She added, "I person no secrets and nary skeletons successful my closet with my husband, and I emotion that. I consciousness comfy and astatine easiness with myself erstwhile I'm astir him. I emotion the pistillate that I've go with him."

Not that life has been each romance, cozy household tableaux and spirited Dancing With the Stars rivalries for the couple.

They admitted in 2017 that they experienced a "funky time" the erstwhile year, erstwhile they had 2 kids, Vanessa was large with Phoenix, and Nick was connected circuit for 8 weeks (though coming location arsenic often arsenic possible).

"I was like, 'man, I truly person truthful overmuch respect, and emotion and appreciation, for azygous parents,'" Vanessa told PeopleTV. "You person to alteration everything astir the mode you onslaught the day, and everything that you would deliberation you're wired to be, it's different. I request that partner, astatine the extremity of the time to conscionable bent retired with and speech to."

But ultimately, earlier she met Nick, she couldn't hold to conscionable a large guy, to person steadfast and blessed babies, "to unrecorded this beingness of love—and I'm there. So each that was enactment to get to you, to get to this, to get to now."

"Why we got married, and wherefore I emotion this man," Vanessa explained to E! News successful 2018, "even though he's toured the satellite and has galore adoring fans, some women and men, he's inactive that feline from Ohio who wants to spell extracurricular and rake the...drainage ditch." This anecdote caused a small he-said, she-said, but "my constituent is," Vanessa exclaimed, "we are precise progressive successful our household and we privation to beryllium progressive successful our kids' lives, and that's wherefore I emotion this guy."

"And the bully news," Nick added, "is we really bask being parents. It's fun."

While NCIS: Hawai'i was canceled aft 3 seasons, prompting the Lacheys to permission the home wherever they'd been making the astir of her show's idyllic shooting location, Nick and Vanessa proceed to marque a splash onscreen arsenic co-hosts of Netflix's Love Is Blind, which became an aboriginal pandemic must-binge and has lasted 7 seasons and counting.

"We resonated with it, due to the fact that it benignant of is the mode that we courted," Vanessa told E! News of their attraction to the concept in March 2021, "in the consciousness that for a afloat twelvemonth earlier we truly got intimate, we were conscionable emotionally getting to cognize each other. I was successful New York, helium was successful L.A."

But thing that had travel earlier was rather similar being unneurotic all the clip astatine the tallness of the COVID-19 pandemic, she admitted.

"It's decidedly challenged america successful bully and atrocious ways," she said of the agelong that put a halt to touring and unopen down TV and movie sets for months successful 2020. "Definitely held a magnifying solid to things, and it's made america stronger successful the end. We are forced to communicate.

"There's nary leaving for a show, oregon leaving for a occupation and past being distant going, 'Hey, I'm sorry, I miss you, I'm coming back.' It's having to woody with it successful person, [Nick] saying 'I messed up,' oregon 'I messed up,' oregon 'I privation to pass better.' And that's been thing that I volition never, ne'er instrumentality for granted and I emotion that this twelvemonth has brought america person than ever."

Also bringing them person together: Co-hosting Netflix's The Ultimatum, yet different questionably premised dating amusement that sends everyone progressive into spirals of self-reflection.

"Nick and I person been unneurotic for 16 years and we cognize each other—married for 11—but it's truthful comic that for immoderate crushed we don't larn much astir each different until we're in, like, a therapy session," Vanessa mused connected occurrence six of the world series' 2nd season, which dropped successful August 2023. "And the crushed wherefore I'm choking up is due to the fact that I've had to get done truthful overmuch s--t to beryllium the champion pistillate for him."

But uncovering the close spouse "that I tin spot and that tin transportation maine through," she continued, "is what made america unstoppable."

They've been unneurotic a batch of years and person amassed a batch of pictures. Relive Nick and Vanessa's epic romance successful photos: