Cover Story: Portrait of a Living Doll

But even after marriage, Simpson's life, which has been almost inhumanely sheltered, remains tightly interwoven with her parents'. Her father is her manager (he also has final cut on every episode of Newlyweds), and her mother, Tina, is her "best friend" and stylist. In their midforties, neither is the conventional church type -- Simpson's mom even talked her dad into getting an earring a couple of years back, and his hair is lightened to the same vibrant blond as Jessica's. One of them travels with her often, since she is afraid to get on a plane alone. When Lachey is not at home, she bunks at her parents', in Los Angeles' Studio City, forty minutes away. "We're Southern, and we're spiritual, and we're really close," says Joe, who didn't even have a problem commenting on Simpson and Lachey's sex life on Newlyweds.

"I think it's weird," says Lachey.

(Excerpted from RS 936, November 27, 2003)