Nick Lachey breaks silence on mid air reunion with Jessica Simpson

Nick Lachey opened up about his unexpected reunion with ex-wife Jessica Simpson, describing the encounter as “strangely okay” after two decades apart.

Appearing on Watch What Happens Live, the 98 Degrees singer recalled sharing a six-and-a-half-hour flight to Hawaii with Simpson in April.

“It’s been 20 years since we’ve been [together], and we hadn’t seen each other in those 20 years,” Lachey told host Andy Cohen. “Everyone was very cordial, very respectful.”

Lachey noted that he was traveling with his wife, Vanessa Lachey, while Simpson, was accompanied by her family including her mother Tina and her children.

He clarified that although they were seated in the same vicinity, there was little direct interaction. “When I say ‘spent,’ [I mean] in the same vicinity,” he explained.

Cohen referred to Tina Simpson as Lachey’s “former mother-in-law,” a phrase Lachey repeated before acknowledging he wasn’t sure of their current relationship.

He also confirmed that Simpson’s estranged husband, Eric Johnson, was on the flight, adding simply: “It was fine.”

Initially the run in was framed as “awkward,” but Lachey’s account paints a calmer picture of two former spouses navigating a chance encounter with mutual respect.

Lachey and Simpson were married from 2002 to 2006, famously documenting their relationship on MTV’s Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica.

Following their divorce, Lachey married former TRL host Vanessa Minnillo in 2011.

The couple now co-host Netflix’s hit reality series Love Is Blind and share three children.