Vanessa Lachey says she gave husband Nick an ultimatum before marriage: ‘We took a break’

‘We dated for five years, so I finally said: ‘what are we doing?’’

(Getty Images)

Vanessa Lachey has spoken candidly about her relationship with Nick Lachey and the ultimatum she gave him before they officially tied the knot.

The NCIS: Hawaiʻi star recalled how she initiated a conversation with Nick five years into their relationship about where things were going during a sneak peek of their new Netflix dating show, The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On. According to Vanessa, she wanted take big steps with the 98 Degree singer, which included having children.

“We dated for five years, so I finally said: ‘what are we doing?’” the 41-year-old actor recalled. “I have now moved in with him. I renovated his entire bachelor pad. There was a bar in the pool, and I’m like: ‘whatever you want.’ Now I’m like: ‘OK, I want to put kids in the pool.’”

The 48-year-old musician acknowledged that his then-girlfriend’s comments “put the nail in the coffin” and led to a discussion about getting engaged.

However, before they ultimately decided they wanted to get married, Vanessa said that she and Nick split up and briefly dated other people.

“If I’m being completely candid and transparent, we took a break,” she said. “We both saw one other person, and we realised that if got at it our own way, we could be amazing together.”

For Vanessa, taking a break allowed her to focus on the “bigger picture,” and how she felt about Nick.

“It took seeing somebody else and me realising I don’t mind the things that I thought bugged me or were holding me back,” she added. “I don’t mind all that. Like the bigger picture is how I feel about this person and their values of wanting to be with me, and knowing everything about me.”

Nick agreed with his now-wife, expressing how their separation gave them “perspective.”

On The Ultimatum, contestants will take a path similar to Nick and Vanessa’s, as six different couples are each facing a different ultimatum in their relationships and on the verge of an engagement. However, before making that commitment, they are given the opportunity to date other people. At the end of the show, they decide if they want to marry the person they arrived with or break up with them “forever”.

Along with the new Netflix series, released on 6 April, Vanessa and Nick are the co-hosts of another hit dating show, Love Is Blind.

The couple, who got married in 2011, are also parents, as they share three children: Camden, nine, Brooklyn, seven, and Phoenix, five.