Jessica Simpson, 38, has been an Open Book lately… literally. She’s the name on everybody’s lips thanks to her memoir (called Open Book) that officially comes out on February 4. Excerpts from it have already been released which includes the “Public Affair” singer opening up about her battles with alcohol. She hit rock bottom in October of 2017 during an incident on Halloween where she “zoned out” after having a drink very early that morning. The situation was so bad that she wasn’t in any state to help her husband Eric Johnson, 40, get their kids Maxwell, 7, and Ace, 6, ready for the big holiday. “I was terrified of letting them see me in that shape,” she wrote. “I am ashamed to say that I don’t know who got them into their costumes that night.”
PEOPLE obtained even more excerpts from Open Book on Saturday, January 25, that further dives into Jessica talking about getting sober and how her football playing beau helped her out. “Eric gave up drinking the second I did,” she says. “He said, ‘I’ll do it with you, babe.’ It was like no biggie and he hasn’t gone back or looked back.” The Dukes of Hazzard star continued to gush about her handsome man by saying, “It’s just the way he is,” she says. “He’s a very selfless and loving person who is the most incredible father on the planet.”
Jessica also got quite candid about other aspects of her life thus far in her new memoir, one centering around the rise and fall of her time with ex-husband Nick Lachey, 46. The former couple announced they were separating in November 2005 before their divorce was officially finalized on June 30, 2006. “We had been together almost seven years when I told Nick, ‘I think I want a divorce,'” she revealed. “I later heard that he told the press he was blindsided. I don’t know how. At that point we were not even speaking to each other. Maybe he was just shocked that I stood up for myself. I don’t think he ever thought I would take the leap.”
The former 98 Degrees band member has moved on in the love department himself. He wed television personality Vanessa Minnillo, 39, in 2011, who initially starred in his music video “What’s Left Of Me” after his split from Jessica.