Cele|bitchy | Nick Lachey will not be seeking alimony and says he tried to win Jessica back

In a new interview in Rolling Stone Nick Lachey comes off as a real stand-up guy.

He says that he had trouble in his marriage with Jessica Simpson due to the way that they were typecast in their reality show “Newlyweds.” Lachey suggests that their roles as the ditzy blonde and the good guy influenced the way they interacted off screen.

He also reveals that Jessica’s decision to divorce was completely unexpeted and caught him off guard:

On November 22nd, 2005, Jessica Simpson informed her husband that she was leaving him, a move that shocked him not because he denied their marriage was foundering, but because he believed they were choosing to inch toward survival. “I never wanted to be a divorce,” he says wryly. “I wanted us to be happy. I guess we differed on strategy.”

The two had just come from having dinner after the American Music Awards.

“The meal was really nice, actually,” he says. “We had a good time.”

After dinner, they stopped by a friend’s house to pick up their dog, then headed for home. On the way, Simpson asked if Lachey was still coming back to Texas with her for the Thanksgiving holiday.

“We already had our plane tickets,” he says. “So I didn’t understand the question. I said, ‘Of course.’ And she said something about how we hadn’t really been getting along and then said, ‘I think I want a divorce.’

“That blindsided me,” he confesses. “I basically said, ‘Please, let’s sleep on it.’ But when we woke up the next day, Wednesday morning, she was still sure.”

Nick cries when he talks about his marriage, saying he would have done anything to make it work:

“It breaks my heart that I couldn’t make Jessica happy,” he mumbles, his chin pressed into his chest. “I wanted to be everything to my wife. I wanted her to look at me with love in her eyes, the way she did at the beginning, and have her feel like I was the most wonderful, awe-inspiring man on the planet. And when that stopped, it was the worst feeling in the world.”

He wipes his face, eyes to nose to chin.

“I’d marry her all over again,” he says softly. “Because I still love her. It would be a lot easier to walk away if I didn’t.”

And then the tears start again.

He also says that he doesn’t understand Joe Simpson, Jessica and Ashley’s controlling father and manager, but does not blame him for his divorce, simply stating that Jessica “is a grown woman.” He says that Joe never liked him and was “an influence” in his marriage, but that he did not cause their split.

Lachey refuses to address the rumors that Simpson cheated on him while they were married. He says that Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine, whom Jessica dated up until a short while ago, approached him in a club to say that nothing happened between him and Jessica while they were married. Lachey says he believes him.

Despite reports to the contrary, he has refused to file for spousal support and says that he will not be suing Jessica for alimony!

“I haven’t requested alimony at all,” Lachey says adamantly. “I have no intention of filing for spousal support. And I’ve been clear with Jessica about not wanting it.”

And even more touching, he says he visited Jessica at her parents house and tried to win her back:

“On the day she filed for divorce, I drove to her parents’ house and tried to change her mind. I had done the research and I had the number of the best marriage counselor in town. I thought we owed it to ourselves to try with a third party. You get to a point where there is so much animosity you can’t hear each other. But she didn’t want to go.”

Lachey still has awkward conversations with Simpson on the phone every few days.

Lachey seems thoughful, gracious and introspective in the interview, refusing to blame Simpson for the divorce and never admitting her infidelity. Given his side of the story, it sounds to us like Simpson was too immature to deal with the normal problems in a long term relationship.

He is filming a new reality series for MTV that will focus on the making of his new album. After the responsible way he’s dealing with his divorce in the press, his career is sure to benefit.

Here are pictures from a 2005 photoshoot in happier times. [via]