Nicole Richie was everywhere in the 2010s. Here's what her life looks like now.

While Nicole Richie gained notoriety for her role in the 2003 reality show The Simple Life, she’s come a long way since then. 

In her early 20s, Nicole Richie was best known for starring alongside Paris Hilton in The Simple Life, an early reality TV show that had a hold on millennials for the few years it was on air.

Now 40 years old, and a mother to two teenagers, Richie seems to have transformed her life completely.

With several roles across various projects - including one where she raps - this is what’s keeping Nicole Richie busy these days.

A mum to teenagers.

When The Simple Life ended in 2007, Nicole became best known for her relationship with Good Charlotte’s Joel Madden, who she started dating in 2006.

"Meeting Nicole was... like a religious experience," he once told 60 Minutes Australia.

"That’s like a life-changing, cathartic, event... meeting the person you know is going to be your wife."

Madden’s initial instinct was correct, with the two tying the knot in 2010. Prior to their nuptials though, the pair had already had two children together - Harlow, born in 2008, and Sparrow, born in 2009.

Now a mum to a 13- and 14-year-old, Richie keeps her children away from the spotlight, very rarely posting photos of them on social media. While Madden posts more family snaps, he ensures the kids' faces stay hidden.

Richie remains pretty private about her marriage as well, rarely giving quotes about Madden when it comes to her few interviews and profiles - but she has given advice on making a marriage last.

"I think it’s really important to enjoy the other person as an individual, not just as the role of your husband or the role of the father. Appreciate that person for who they are and really prioritise having fun together," she said in 2020.

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A founder, actress, and judge.

Instead, Richie mostly uses her social media to promote her projects, of which there are many.

She founded House of Harlow 1960, a jewellery brand named for her daughter, in 2008, and has steadily grown the business into a lifestyle brand in the years since. Now, she works as the brand’s Creative Director, while taking on other projects on the side.

Richie has also dabbled in acting, making guest appearances on a few big TV shows before hitting her stride with Amazon Prime's Making the Cut, a reality TV show where she serves as a judge.

The fashion competition is hosted primarily by long-time colleagues Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn, with Richie also appearing on the panel regularly to help judge the aspiring designers and entrepreneurs who compete on the show.

A rogue rap career.

In 2019, Nicole Richie debuted 'Nikki Fre$h', her alter-ego who mostly raps about vegetables.

She released an album, Unearthed, in August 2020 - a bizarre compilation that featured both her songs and 'voicemails' from people talking about her new project, asking why Nicole would 'go into this rap thing'. One of them was even recorded by her father, Lionel Richie.

The actual songs themselves dealt with issues like saving the bees, eating ugly vegetables rather than throwing them out, and having universal access to clean drinking water.

Richie also starred in a short comedy series of the same name, created for the now-defunct streaming platform Quibi.

She told Marie Claire in 2020 that the show was a comedy about "being at one with the garden, being at one with the universe, understanding that we, like everything else, are living and have to be here and need water and attention".

Unfortunately, the project’s Instagram has been quiet since 2020, but hopefully there’s more to come from Nikki Fre$h in the future.

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A rekindled friendship with Paris Hilton

When The Simple Life came to an end in 2007, it was suspected that Richie was no longer friends with her co-star, Paris Hilton.

In fact, reports emerged in 2005 that the pair had stopped speaking, with Hilton even commenting on the matter. "It’s no big secret that Nicole and I are no longer friends. Nicole knows what she did, and that’s all I’m ever going to say about it," she said.

While the pair were able to reconcile to the point of working together again on the show’s final seasons, their friendship was no longer an aspect of their personal brands as they moved on from The Simple Life.

However, a photograph from Paris’s 2022 wedding, where the pair were standing beside each other and laughing, proved their lifelong friendship still seems to be going strong.

Feature Image: Getty/Mamamia.