American-based singer and television star Nick Lachey says the only thing worse than his public split and divorce from Hollywood star Jessica Simpson is death. "That was a hard time and one of the hardest (in my life) for sure," said the 32-year-old."The only thing I can think of that can be harder would be losing someone. This has been such a drawn out, long thing, that it really is a difficult thing to go through, not just for me, but for anyone that has ever gone through it." Simpson and Lachey married in October 2002 and, for the first 18 months of their marriage, they filmed a fly-on-the-wall reality program, Newlyweds.But the pair split last November. Their divorce was finalised last month.Lachey, formerly of US boy band 98 Degrees, says his latest album reflects the heartache and pain he felt while going through a highly public separation. "It (the album) was inspired by personal experience and a snapshot of that period of time in my life and my relationship," he said. "So it’s very, very personal and very honest." While most people might turn to therapy to deal with their marriage breakdown, Lachey said music helped him heal."In a lot of ways when you go through something like that it’s important to get that stuff out and express those emotions," he said."Music was my therapy and being able to channel that through my lyrics was a very healthy thing for me."The timing couldn’t have been better. It was a real blessing to focus on that and use that as a way to express myself."He says how his ex-wife or others feel about the songs and their meanings isn’t his concern."I really didn’t care (what others thought)," he said."I felt that in order for me to make a great album I had to be honest with myself and my feelings."It wasn’t like I was revealing some great secret."Everyone knew what was going on with me and with us."For me to come out and do a song about how great love is, that would have been something people could have criticised because that’s not where my head was at."Rumoured to be dating MTV host Vanessa Minnillo, Lachey says he is enjoying single life.Dating an Australian girl isn’t out of the question."I’m into girls in general," he laughed. "Doesn’t matter where they are from. Obviously, I am single again and the whole dating thing is very interesting and a reinvented frontier."
The Age
Sounds like he is finally free from The Simpsons and can say what he wants.
