Nicole Richie was sure that Joel Madden was The One after the first time they met.
“Joel is very shy,” Richie, 43, revealed during her “Call Her Daddy” podcast appearance on Wednesday, December 11. “The first night I met him, he actually didn’t speak to me, and I was like, ‘This is my husband.’”
Richie recalled “a friend” setting her up with Madden, 45, in 2006 because they were both single at the time.
“I had not dabbled with musicians. But our friend set us up not in a serious way at all,” Richie said. “She was like, ‘You’re single and he’s single, so this is probably not going to be serious, but you guys should hang out.’ We did.”
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Even though they didn’t really speak during that first night out, Richie knew that Madden was into her romantically.
“He ended up texting. … Or email. I don’t know,” she added. “Whatever was happening back then.”
Four years after their 2006 meeting, Richie and Madden announced that they were engaged. By December 2010, they were married. They couple have since welcomed two kids, daughter Harlow, 16, and son Sparrow, 15.
Elsewhere during Wednesday’s “Call Her Daddy” episode, Richie tried to remember when she introduced Madden to best friend Paris Hilton (who was also a guest on the podcast).
“Was it the same night? I don’t know,” Richie said. “I feel like it was around Thanksgiving weekend, and it was pretty fast, I feel like, when you met him.”
Hilton, 43, said she “loved” Richie’s relationship with the Good Charlotte musician right off the bat.
“I just thought they were so cute,” Hilton added. “Joel is so sweet. He’s so loyal. He’s just one of those types of guys that’s completely different than an L.A. guy.”
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Richie noted that it was “on.com” between her and Madden after the first time they hung out. The House of Harlow founder also admitted that was a Good Charlotte fan at the time — but lied about a different pop culture interest during one of their first dates.
“He hates when I tell this story,” Richie said, recalling one night when Madden invited her over to watch TV and asked if she was a fan of HBO’s The Wire.
“Never seen The Wire in my life. I go, ‘The Wire is my favorite show,’” she said. “Obviously, The Wire is an amazing show. I’m not dissing The Wire, but OK, I’m a girl. He just, like, threw me into season 3. There’s no music. And I, for a very long time, pretended, like, I watched and loved The Wire.”
She told Madden the truth “a few years” into their relationship. “But we have since rewatched The Wire.”
