Lachey, who guest hosted Wednesday's Entertainment Tonight, also discussed her new role on ‘NCIS: Hawaii,’ which airs Mondays on CBS.
Vanessa and Nick Lachey were meant to be.
The NCIS: Hawaii star used to be an Entertainment Tonight correspondent and had the chance to interview her now-husband on the set of his music video. While guest hosting Wednesday's episode of ET, Vanessa watched her 2005 footage from that time, crediting ET for meeting the 98 Degrees singer.
"I remember I was crushing on him hard and he was single, so I was in," Vanessa tells ET's Kevin Frazier with a laugh. "I can give credit for our actual romantic meet to Entertainment Tonight. Nick Lachey was in New York doing press and they said, 'Can you wish these celebrities a happy birthday?' He looked down the list and saw, 'Vanessa Minnillo, November 9th.' He went, 'That's my birthday.' So then we both went to a club in New York that night and he said, 'I did an interview today and they asked me to wish you a happy birthday.' And I was like, 'Oh thanks, did you?' And he goes, 'Your birthday is November 9th and so is mine.'"
"And I'll never forget it. It was that moment, single Nick in a club, we have the same birthday and I was just like...," Vanessa recalls before looking at the camera and smirking. "I had known him for years. We were both in previous relationships, we were both in the industry, he came by TRL a lot, but it was something about that night when he told me we had the same birthday…and I just felt all the feels."
Vanessa and Nick began dating in 2006. She appeared in his music video for his song "What's Left of Me." They got engaged in November 2010 and tied the knot in July 2011. The couple is now parents to three children; sons Camden, 9, and Phoenix, 4, and daughter Brooklyn, 6.
Now, Nick is on daddy duty as Vanessa kicks butt as the first female special agent in charge of the NCIS franchise.
"It means everything! Everybody wants the support of fans, but especially your spouse because it's not just me out here it's me and him and he's made a ton of sacrifices to be out here," the actress notes of moving her family to Hawaii for her new gig. "He had to step up with daddy game, and boy did he! He knows everybody at the school, the practices, and their friends. He's like Mr. Mom right now and I don't think he wants it any other way. He loves it."
Nick had previously told ET how proud he is of Vanessa landing the history-making NCIS: Hawaii role. "She's an incredible person and this is her time to shine. It's very cool to be on the sidelines watching that happen," the singer expressed.
Vanessa shares how Nick told her the same thing. "He literally said that when I was in L.A. and I got this job, that this is my time and he'd do what he has to do."
As for taking on the role of Jane Tennant, Vanessa says, "I feel very comfortable and confident. I think a lot of that is my age. Maybe 20 years ago, 10 years ago, I wouldn't have been able to be in this position. But at 40, there's really some grounding force that happens to you, especially as a woman and a mother of three and a wife."
Vanessa also loves performing her own stunts, sharing how she always fantasized about being a superhero or Laura Croft. "There is just something really satisfying for me because I get to do the other stuff daily. So to get to be this badass and get to do it justifiably so, because I'm doing it for NCIS and for CBS, it makes it that much more real for me."
As for what her husband thinks of her action sequences? "Nick's scared," she jokes, noting, "He says, 'Don't get too good at that.' He sleeps with one eye open now because he knows I'm quick."
NCIS: Hawaii airs Mondays on CBS.
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