Jessica Simpson still has love in her heart for estranged husband Eric Johnson.
“I’ve grown up so much. I can handle so much,” Simpson, 44, told People in an interview published on Wednesday, February 19. “Maybe I’m just meant to love a lot of people in my life.”
She added, “I don’t know why my heart gets tossed around, but I’m one of the lucky ones. 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.”
After a star-studded dating history that included ex-husband Nick Lachey, former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and more famous men, Simpson connected with fellow NFL alum Johnson, now 45, in 2010. They were married for 10 years before separating late last year.
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“Eric and I have been living separately navigating a painful situation in our marriage,” Simpson told Us Weekly in a January statement. “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.”
Simpson and Johnson share daughters Maxwell, 12, and Birdie, 5, as well as son Ace, 11. The now-exes are committed to amicably coparenting their kids amid their breakup.
Navigating the separation has also inspired Simpson musically, and she is gearing up for her next album release this month. (Her latest EP, Nashville Canyon, Part 1, drops March 21, one month after the single “Use My Heart Against Me” hits radio waves and streaming platforms this week.)
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“I am a woman now and I can do what I want and to have freedom in music — I think that’s what you’re going to feel in Nashville Canyon,” Simpson teased to People, referring to “Use My Heart Against Me” as a “sexy song to write.”
She said, “I woke up with that lyric in my head. It’s kind of craving someone that you want again and you don’t care if your heart is used against you — if it’s just for one night. Like, give it over, just for the experience again. I didn’t necessarily want it at the beginning of writing this record. I was in a different place.”
Simpson, however, played coy about her specific musical inspiration and muses.
“The songs speak for themselves,” she quipped. “Discovering this music is something I did on my own. Thank God, I had Nashville, it was just a way of me owning myself and declaring it.”
Simpson and Johnson relocated their family to Tennessee in late 2023 when she initially returned to the recording booth.
Nashville Canyon, Part 1, will be released Friday, March 21.
