Simpson sisters steal the spotlight

Ashlee and Jessica's talent for making the best of a bad situation has been nurtured by their dad and manager, Joe. Maybe it's not surprising to hear Joe Simpson speak of repentance. Remember he's a Baptist minister. He was the one who got Jessica to make that virginity pledge.

But that doesn't mean he's opposed to using his daughters' God given gifts to draw attention to their careers. Listen to what he told GQ Magazine late last year: "Jessica never tries to be sexy, she just is sexy. You put her in a T-shirt or you put her in a bustier, she's sexy in both. She's got double D's you can't cover those suckers up."

But overall, family friend Carson Day says Pastor Joe has kept his Texas values he and wife Tina have been married for more than 25 years. Still, success has changed him a little.

Daly: “He's gone a little Hollywood.”

Kotb: “Yeah.”

Daly: “His friends, and I'm sure he would say that himself. He doesn't look the same. He used to have a mullet, and preach in Texas, and now he's got a big diamond ring.”

Kotb: “Do you think, when it comes to Joe, is there anything that's sort of off limits? Anything that's not reality TV worthy? Or anything that's not worth exposing when it comes to the two girls?”

Daly: “I don't know. We'll see. I mean, so far, not really. It doesn't seem like there's been anything that I know that he's put a big curtain up, I mean are we going to see Jessica Simpson give birth on television?”

Of course, that's assuming Nick and Jessica are staying together. What’s going on with that?

One thing you can say for the Simpson girls, they're not short on ambition. Both Simpsons are coming soon to a theater near you. Ashlee will play an aspiring actress in "Undiscovered." As for Jessica, she'll take on an even bigger role this summer -- that short-shorted red state sweetie Daisy Duke in the film version of the 70s sitcom the “Dukes of Hazard.”

No matter how Daisy Duke goes over, the movie is already a victory of sorts for Jessica -- to get the part she beat out Britney Spears. Mom to be Britney has a premiere coming up too of her reality show with her husband. And speaking of reality television and the bonds of holy matrimony, what's really going on with Nick and Jessica?

Is there really any truth to the rumors that Jessica had an on set affair with her married “Dukes of Hazard” co-star Johnny Knoxville, formerly of MTV's jackass or that Nick's been messing around? Nick has denied it, and Joe Simpson has repeatedly lashed out at reporters who raise questions about his daughter’s marriage.

Nick and Jessica finally addressed the headlines head on when they appeared together on the “Tonight Show.” And to prove them all wrong, Jessica and Nick took a very public trip together this spring to visit U.S. troops in Iraq.

In a world where tuna may be chicken and a jig is worth a thousand songs, it's hard to tell what it takes to be a star. But whatever it is, Jessica and Ashlee Simpson have a genius for it.

Those concerned that Jessica Simpson's husband isn't getting his share of attention will be happy to know that he's about to star in a reality TV show of his own. "The Nick Lachey Project,” as it's known, will take viewers along on his next venture: the writing, recording and marketing of his next solo CD.

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