Jessica Simpson, 41, was once a young singer who took the world by storm. The Texas native rose to fame thanks to her voice, but soon started a reality television career and later a fashion empire.
Simpson has endured some her fair share of ups and downs, with broken relationships, a very successful fashion line, finding her true love, and even becoming a mother.
Shortly after her third baby arrived, Simpson dropped almost 100lb in weight. And she sure looks fantastic! Here is all you need to know about Jessica Simpson!
Jessica Simpson was born on July 10, 1980, in Abilene, Texas. Her parents, father Joe and mother Tina, married very young, and Joe became a minister.
Jessica Simpson – early life
As such, church became a significant part of Jessica Simpson’s childhood. One of her earliest memories is sitting and listening to her father’s preaching, which she recalled as “amazing.”
“If I’m going for advice for anything in my life, I go straight to my father because he has the answers,” she told Vanity Fair.
Jessica started singing in the church choir, though her childhood involved plenty of moving around.
By 10 years of age, she had already moved at least a half-dozen times. Her younger sister, Ashley, was born four years after Jessica.
Simpson continued to sing in the church choir until age 11, when she had what some might call a holy epiphany. As she and the rest of the ensemble sang Amazing Grace, Jessica realized she had an incredible voice.
And she wasn’t the only one to notice it. Reportedly, the pastor said: “There’s somebody in this room who’s going to use their voice to affect the world. Whoever you are, come to the front.”
The pastor brought Jessica to the front of the church, and it was at that moment she realized that singing was her life’s calling.
Auditioned for ‘The Mickey Mouse Club’
From that moment on, the majority of her time was dedicated to singing and performing. Not long after the pastor had remarked on her beautiful singing voice, Jessica Simpson went on to try and get her big breakthrough.
She first attended an open audition for the Mickey Mouse Club in Dallas, Texas, in 1992. There, she performed along with 50,000 other entrants looking for fame.
Simpson sang Amazing Grace and danced to Ice Ice Baby, and made it through to the next round.
And the round after that.
And the round after that.
The Mickey Mouse Club was a huge thing. As mentioned, Jessica wasn’t the only one auditioning. Beside her was none other than Justin Timberlake.
“We got in groups, and we all had to go with an acting coach, a vocal coach, and a dance choreographer, and we were there for like a week and a half. We each worked on a monologue and a song and a dance, we all learned the same thing,” she recalled in a 1999 interview.
“I was actually in a group with Justin Timberlake! Yeah, I know, it’s kinda weird! It’s so weird that all the Mickey Mouse Club people are coming out. I had absolutely no experience going in there.
Jessica Simpson – music career
“I walked in, and I sang Amazing Grace, a cappella, and like Justin had already won Star Search and Britney had been in Off-Broadway stuff, and I was just a little minister’s kid walking in singing Amazing Grace. It was intimidating. It was really intimidating.”
In her 2020 memoir Open Book, Simpson recalled how the casting ended. She was close to being the one chosen – but fell short just before the winners were announced.
“There were eleven of us, and the term ‘Top Eight’ became the Holy Grail,” she wrote.
“Throughout my time at camp, my parents kept hearing, ‘She’s going to make it. She’s our Top Eight.’ At one point, Matt Casella (the casting director) came up to me and my parents. ‘Jessica, it looks really positive,’ he said. It was one thing for my parents to think I had talent, but these professionals were now telling them their daughter had the potential to be a star.”
At the same time as Simpson knew she was a very talented young girl, she also faced struggles as a child. Fortunately, in 1998, her fantastic voice helped her land a record deal with Columbia. Still, show business can be a rather poisonous place, and Simpson often got comments about her body.
That, according to her, had plenty to do with her growing up in a church setting. She recalled “having to cover it all up” by wearing turtlenecks on stage, blazers, and vests, as people “apparently would lust.”
Pushed to lose weight
“So I have literally been judged for my body like since I was a kid,” she said. “Judged in the church, and then after the church, it was like, ‘No be sexier, but then you always have to look that way if you do it once. You have to remain that body forever.”
“Turning in my weight to the label, that’s not okay,” she added.
A year after Simpson signed her record deal, she released her first album – and it was a smash hit.
The album Sweet Kisses peaked at No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 200 and sold in an astounding four million copies. She released the follow-up Irresistible two years later, which sold more than two million copies.
At the same time, both Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears were becoming massive stars with their music. Unfortunately, Simpson wasn’t quite at the same level regarding the pop music of young female artists. The record label head wanted Jessica Simpson to do something about it at that time.
He said that she had to lose 15 pounds, and Simpson even applied eyeshadow to her stomach to provide the illusion that she had abs.
“I had so many people pushing me to surpass these crazy numbers of records that these girls were selling, and I just didn’t know how to do it,” she wrote in her memoir.
Marriage to Nick Lachey
At the same time as her music career was in its prime, Jessica also met her first husband. She tied the knot with artist Nich Lachey – the singer of boy-band 98 Degrees, in 2002, and soon after, Simpson became one of the most famous figures on television. She and Nick let cameras in to film the reality television series Newlyweds, taking her to Hollywood’s next level of fame.
However, after just two years, the show ended, as Jessica felt that it wasn’t fun anymore.
“I felt like I was being a phony, and I didn’t want to continue on with that,” she told Buzzfeed News. “It wasn’t real anymore, It wasn’t reality. It wasn’t who we were. There was lots of eye-rolling, and that was real stuff.”
Sadly, Nick and Jessica’s marriage ended in divorce in 2006. Even though she felt that the show – that made both her and Nick huge celebrities – wasn’t fun filming, she doesn’t blame Newlyweds for ending their marriage.
“I don’t believe that the show was what tore our marriage apart. Nick and I were very great at being together publicly and on camera,” Simpson said, adding that she didn’t regret doing the show.
“That was my way to connect with people,” she added. “I don’t know why I would ever regret it.”
Jessica Simpson – husband, children, net worth
Jessica Simpson released more music in the 2000s. She also started her acting career, appearing in the film Dukes of Hazard in 2005.
Upon entering the 2010s, the 41-year-old decided to change the course of her career entirely. She started her clothing brand, the Jessica Simpson Collection, and it became a big success.
As of today, Simpson is reportedly worth around $200 million.
Her clothing brand grew into a fashion empire, while she also met her second husband, Eric Johnson. Alongside the former NFL player, Jessica welcomed their first child, Maxwell Drew Johnson, in 2012. The year after, Ace Knut was born. Their third child, and first daughter, Birdie Mae, was born in 2019.
As Simpson gave birth to three children, she went on somewhat of a weight roller coaster, just like many other pregnant women. As a result, Jessica wanted her fashion brand to represent all women, no matter the size.
“My business is the heart of who I am. I want to make every woman feel confident in what they’re wearing,” she said in 2014.
“It’s very important for me to let every woman feel included,” she told CBS News.
“If I make a shirt, I’m going to make sure every size is available. Because I have been every size, trust me. People are shocked that they like my brand. Maybe because it’s not that expensive? Or maybe because I was a cheesy pop star back in the day. I have no idea.”
Jessica Simpson’s drastic weight loss
When Simpson gave birth to Birdie Mae in 2019, the former pop star underwent a vast transformation. Just six months after the birth of her daughter, she revealed that she had lost an astonishing 100 pounds.
Her longtime personal trainer, Harley Pasternak, posted a wonderful tribute to Simpson, saying that he was “beyond proud of this incredible woman.” The two have worked together for more than 12 years. He said that she looks “younger today than she was when we met.”
So how did Jessica do it? According to Pasternak, it was all about eating healthy and amping up her daily steps.
She started by walking about 6,000 steps per day. Soon, with the help of her trainer, she had increased her daily step count to at least 14,000 per day.
Furthermore, Simpson ate three healthy meals per day, filled with protein, and had two snacks, such as almonds. In addition, she was allowed several “cheat meals” throughout the week, so Jessica never felt deprived of her favorite food, Pasternak revealed.
“It had to be more than just getting back from her baby weight, but how do I keep whatever I am doing now forever. That’s why we are not a big fan of doing any extreme diet or radical forms of exercise,” Harley Pasternak told E! News at the time.
“I just want to feel good and be able to zip my pants up”
Now, when through severe weight loss in such a short time, it’s essential to always know your limits. So, if you are planning on doing it, it’s always a good idea to consult a doctor beforehand.
Simpson might have lost a lot of weight, but she revealed in April of last year that she never weighs herself. She doesn’t even own a scale.
“I have no idea how much I weigh. Like, I just want to feel good and be able to zip my pants up. If I don’t, I have another size. I have every size,” Jessica said.
“I’ve really tried my hardest not to let that define me,” she added.
How much a person weighs should never define who that person is. We think Simpson is a true role model for many regarding her own attitude towards weight, and through her clothing line, which includes everyone.
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