Jessica Simpson and Eric Johnson's Relationship Timeline

Jessica Simpson and former NFL player Eric Johnson have a long history together that started in 2010. In fact, it was love at first sight for Simpson, who recalled her chance May 2010 meeting with Johnson in an Instagram post in May 2020, writing, “He knocked on my dreamy cottage door (sigh), I let him in and never let him leave.” She noted that she “fell head over slippers in love” on that day. Johnson proposed to Simpson in November 2010 after six months of dating, but it wasn’t until four years later that the pair walked down the aisle. The couple, both of whom were married before — Simpson to Nick Lachey and Johnson to Keri D’Angelo — welcomed daughter Maxwell and son Ace before saying “I do” in July 2014. They expanded their family once more, welcoming daughter Birdie in March 2019. In January 2025, the spouses confirmed their split by announcing their separation after 10 years of marriage. Scroll down to relive Simpson and Johnson’s love story from the beginning:

Us exclusively shared the first pictures of Simpson and Johnson together as they stepped out in Jacksonville, Florida, to celebrate the former NFL player’s grandparents’ 60th wedding anniversary. The two began dating five months earlier while Johnson was still legally married to stylist Keri D’Angelo.

Us exclusively confirmed that Johnson pulled out of his two-year business program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School to stay close to Simpson in L.A. “He doesn’t want to move to Philadelphia and leave her so soon after they got together,” a source told Us.

Simpson’s rep confirmed to Us that Johnson popped the question after six months of dating.

“We’ve both been married before. We’re enjoying our commitment to each other,” Simpson told Women’s Wear Daily, noting the pair might elope. “We want to take our time.”

Us exclusively revealed that Simpson postponed her wedding to Johnson in September 2011. “Everything is up in the air,” a source told Us at the time. “She can’t figure out what kind of day she wants. Some days she wants a big wedding in Hawaii, then other days she wants something closer to home.”

After months of speculation, the designer confirmed that she was pregnant and expecting her first child by posting a Halloween-themed picture of herself as a mummy via Twitter on October 31. “It’s true, I’m going to be a mummy!” she wrote.

Simpson was the guest of honor at a Charlotte’s Web-themed baby shower in L.A. in March 2012. “It was a kid-friendly shower with many of her friends bringing babies,” a source told Us.

Pregnant Simpson went completely nude on the April cover of Elle magazine — and revealed the pair were expecting a girl! “We’re embroidering it on things. It’s nothing shocking and nothing you’ll have to add to the dictionary,” she said of the name they’d chosen for their baby. “When people hear it, they’ll know why.”

She’s here! The couple welcomed daughter Maxwell Drew at 9 lbs. 13 oz. 21 3/4 inches on May 1. “We are so grateful for all of the love, support and prayers we have received. This has been the greatest experience of our lives!” the first-time mom wrote on her website. 

Just weeks after becoming a mother, the Employee of the Month actress revealed she was joining the Weight Watchers family as a spokesperson via social media. “The cool thing about the program is that it focuses on healthy habits for the long-term (and I can still indulge in my guilty pleasures every now and then, too),” she wrote on Facebook. “I have actually gotten a group of friends together who are going to be doing it with me.”

Six months after welcoming Maxwell, Us broke the news that the new parents were expecting baby No. 2. “It definitely wasn’t planned. But yes, Jessica is pregnant again,” a source said. “She really is overjoyed!”

The couple welcomed son Ace Knute via scheduled C-section in L.A. on June 30. “Ace Knute (pronounced Ka-nute) Johnson has arrived! Mom and baby are doing great,” her rep told Us at the time. “Jessica, Eric and Maxwell are thrilled to welcome the new addition to their family.”

The Texas native exclusively debuted the couple’s baby boy on the cover of Us Weekly one month later and spoke about being a proud mother of two. “With two kids, we have our hands full, but every day is a new adventure,” she told Us. “Pregnancy is a lot. It was hard to do two so close together. I have this huge sense of accomplishment, and I feel in my heart that I’m done. But obviously, accidents do happen!”

The family of four made their red-carpet debut together while attending a Dillard’s event for Simpson’s clothing line in Dallas in November 2013.

“We need to get married,” Simpson said on a January 2014 Good Morning America appearance. “I already feel like we’re like an old married couple already. If he wanted to run, he could have run when I was hormonal and pregnant.” 

Us broke news that the pair were set to tie the knot over the July 4 weekend in 2014, and the bride would not be wearing white. “Jessica is having something unique made,” a source told Us of the dress. “It will be very different from the Vera Wang she wore to wed Nick Lachey [in 2002].”

“Happy 4yr anniversary, baby!! I am so honored to be the mother of your babies and loved by you every moment,” Simpson wrote via Instagram on May 21, on the anniversary of the couple’s first meeting. “I can’t wait to marry you!!!”

Johnson and Simpson celebrated their bachelor and bachelorette parties together with a bash at Eveleigh restaurant in West Hollywood. The pair “couldn’t have looked happier,” an eyewitness told Us in June 2014. “They kept raising their glasses. They were having a great time. Jessica looked absolutely amazing — and tiny.”

The pair tied the knot on July 5, 2014, in front of close family and friends and their two children in Montecito, California.

“I just think we’re a little bit more addicted to each other,” the musician told Today’s Matt Lauer in September 2014, after marrying Johnson earlier in the year. “I just think there is a level of love that has reached the highest of high.”

“7 years, 2 kids, and a whole lotta love later,” Simpson captioned a black-and-white snap of herself with Johnson and their kids Maxwell and Ace in May 2017, seven years after she began dating the athlete.

Simpson announced in September 2018 that she was pregnant with her and Johnson’s third child. “SURPRISE…” she wrote via Instagram. “This little baby girl will make us a family of five. We couldn’t be happier to announce this precious blessing of life.”

The pair dressed as Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s characters in Twins for Halloween in 2018.

The “Sweetest Sin” singer celebrated her third pregnancy in January 2019 with a birds-nest themed shower, in honor of their baby’s name — Birdie. “There weren’t any games since it was her third shower, it was just a beautiful chic lunch,” a source told Us.

Us confirmed that the couple welcomed their third child, daughter Birdie, on March 19. She weighed 10 pounds, 13 ounces. 

“Happy 40th Birthday to the man of my dreams,” the shoe designer wrote alongside a photo of herself and her husband for his birthday in September 2019. “I pray in every lifetime I find you and we recreate the beauty of what we have again and again. My hero, champion, best friend, lover, and daddy to our babies. I could never have hoped for more. I love you. Let’s celebrate.”

Six months after welcoming her third child, the Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica alum lost 100 pounds. “Even when it felt impossible, I chose to work harder,” Simpson wrote via Instagram in September 2019.

“In terms of my marriage to Eric, I have never felt more myself or more free,” Simpson told Us exclusively in February 2020, after releasing her autobiography, Open Book. “Eric and I have a true mind, body [and] soul connection.”

“It was a different kind of Easter at the Johnson house, but we had the best time celebrating as a family,” the “Public Affair” songstress wrote via Instagram on Easter amid the coronavirus pandemic. “The kiddos were very happy the bunny wore his mask and gloves.”

Going strong! “I fell head over slippers in love with this perfect man 10 YEARS ago today!” the Blonde Ambition actress captioned a sun-kissed selfie her love on their first date anniversary. “By chance he knocked on my dreamy cottage door (sigh), I let him in and never let him leave. He is mine, I am his…forever.”

“Eric Johnson, my Husband, I love you,” the Open Book author wrote via Instagram on the couple’s wedding anniversary in July 2020. “6 yrs ago today I married my perfect soulmate. Our unity was written in God’s sky of colliding stars. Together, we manifest dreams, nurture desire and hold space. Destined, it always has been and always will be, forevermore.”

"11 years STRONG... 11 hearts filled in every passing year with unconditional, passionate, inspired, fascinating, supportive, beautiful, tempting, ravishing, exquisite, sublime, marvelous, honest, happy, adored, ideal, incomparable, powerful, mesmERIC, LOVE. Our connected hearts are praised and celebrated on this serendipitous day. I knew the night we met, the fate of you, locked the key to my searching heart and simply held my soul with love and honor," the singer captioned a selfie of the pair on their anniversary. "Then, now and for the rest of my life I am fully and always yours and you mine. Gaining access to your heart to dwell and reside in, is the greatest gift I will ever rest within until the end of time. Time goes by, the perfect children you gave me are growing older, but with you and I time does not exist for it only allows space to broaden...expanding beyond horizons just to love and be loved. Happy Anniversary to us, the beauty of us- as is and forevermore."

Eric shared a sweet tribute to Jessica to mark their seventh wedding anniversary.

“Jessica, I love you. 7 years into marriage and you still make me laugh just as hard as day one. I had fun yesterday celebrating us,” he wrote on July 6 alongside some never-before-seen wedding photos. “Our kids bring us so much joy and they could not be luckier to have such a fiercely empowered, unique, beautiful mama. I love you, babe!!! Happy Anniversary!”

“ERIC, 42yrs ago today you were born and without a doubt I know that God created and shaped you to be my purest love, truest companion, my forever person, my ALL in everything, my every day and night answered prayer before I even knew the words to speak,” Simpson wrote via Instagram in honor of her husband’s birthday. “The gift of life began with your first breath to bring forth my purpose to be brought into this life. I truly was born to love you. As a child I talked to God asking for you and you found me when my heart least expected eternal intimacy.”

The musician continued: “I am graced to be living within your soul and you within mine until the end of time. I am HAPPY it is your BIRTHDAY ... the blessed day this world received the gift of you is the greatest day of the year for so many, but especially for your fortunate wife and our beautifully perfect children. I love you. Maxwell loves you. Ace loves you. Birdie loves you.”

The shoe designer enjoyed a "romantic, sexy and well deserved" getaway in Mexico with her "forever lover" and posed beachside in a black, Jessica Simpson-brand one piece and strappy black heels. 

"Awww I will miss this, but I will be bringin’ home a lot of extra passion for everyone and everything that is for sure," Simpson captioned her Instagram post. "Adios Cabo San Lucas 🏝☀️🌊💋🤍."

Simpson celebrated her husband’s 44th birthday with a pool day alongside their three kids. “His family gave him all the love cells we have to celebrate his life,” she wrote of the festivities via Instagram. “My heart is so taken with this Man, I could hardly call it my own … We love youuuu.”

Ashlee Simpson shut down rumors that her sister and Johnson were headed for a divorce. While walking in Beverly Hills with her husband, Evan Ross, Ashlee was asked by TMZ to address rumors that Jessica and Johnson had split. Ashlee initially dodged the question and continued walking before eventually replying. When she was directly asked again as to whether or not the rumors were “true,” Ashlee replied, “No.”

Simpson and Johnson are "living separately right now," a source exclusively told Us Weekly. The couple is "trying to figure out a separation without disrupting their kids’ lives as much as possible," a second insider said, while a third source said Simpson is "heartbroken" and going through an "incredibly difficult time." 

Simpson announced on January 13 that she and Johnson had called it quits after 10 years of marriage. 

"Eric and I have been living separately navigating a painful situation in our marriage," Simpson told Us Weekly in a statement at the time. "Our children come first, and we are focusing on what is best for them. We are grateful for all of the love and support that has been coming our way, and appreciate privacy right now as we work through this as a family."

A source exclusively told Us that the pair had “done counseling before, but it didn’t get them anywhere, and Jessica wasn’t interested in doing it again.” The insider noted that after facing “ups and downs,” the exes decided they “want different things.”

One month after confirming their split, Simpson shared that she and Johnson were on good terms. “I don’t know why my heart gets tossed around, but I’m one of the lucky ones,” she told People of life post-breakup. “At least I have my children and I still have Eric. He’s still very much a part of my life and will always be.”

She later revealed that her ex had been supportive of her new music in an interview with The Cut. “It is a gift. Eric supported that gift. My kids supported that gift,” she told the outlet. Simpson released her Nashville Canyon, Pt. 1 EP — her first new music in 15 years — the following month.