Nick Lachey says he and his family sat in first class during a March six-hour flight to Hawaii, while Jessica Simpson’s children allegedly flew in economy. He framed the reunion on the plane as “strangely OK,” with everyone “very, very cordial,” amid lingering
Nick Lachey described a surprising seating arrangement from a March trip to Hawaii: he said he, his wife Vanessa Lachey, and their three kids flew first class and were seated near his ex, Jessica Simpson. In the retelling, Simpson’s children allegedly sat in economy while Simpson was in first.
Speaking on “Watch What Happens Live,” Lachey said he believed Simpson was with “former mother-in-law,” Tina Ann Drew. He added that while Simpson’s “kids and her” were reportedly on the plane, “her husband, maybe, were on the plane but not with us.”
Host Andy Cohen pushed on the details. asking whether Simpson and estranged husband Eric Johnson’s little ones were placed in “a separate class of service.” Lachey responded with the same core idea. saying he wasn’t “familiar with where they stand” but that he believed Simpson and Johnson’s children were on the aircraft while not seated alongside them.
The conversation also brought up the specific names of Simpson and Eric Johnson’s children: daughter Maxwell, 14; son Ace, 12; and daughter Birdie, 7. Lachey’s account landed in the middle of Cohen’s effort to pin down who was seated in what cabin.
When news of the March run-in first surfaced, it was said that Simpson changed seats with someone to be further away from Eric Johnson. Lachey later confirmed they were in the same vicinity, but insisted the moment itself didn’t turn tense.
He called the reunion “strangely OK,” saying, “it’s been 20 years” since he and Simpson were married, then adding, “We hadn’t seen each other in those 20 years, then spent six and a half hours on a flight to Hawaii together,” before clarifying they were “simply ‘in the same vicinity.’”
Lachey said the interaction stayed polite, describing that “everyone was very, very cordial” and “very respectful.”
A representative for Simpson did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
The seating story sits inside a longer relationship timeline.. Lachey and Simpson tied the knot in 2002 and divorced in 2006.. Lachey later married Vanessa in 2011, and together they have son Camden, 13, daughter Brooklyn, 11, and son Phoenix, 9.. Simpson married Eric Johnson in 2014 and later called it quits in 2025.
The pattern in Lachey’s account is consistent: he says he and his family were seated in first class near Simpson. then links the boundary between their spaces to where Simpson’s family was placed on the plane—while still insisting the overall encounter stayed “very. very cordial” and “very respectful.”
Nick Lachey Jessica Simpson Vanessa Lachey Eric Johnson first class economy Watch What Happens Live Hawaii flight