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In fact, the last year has been a trying one for the pair, who spent much of their time away from each other – she was in Louisiana filming The Dukes of Hazzard, he was often in Sweden recording his upcoming album – and had to endure rumors of infidelity (emphatically denied by both).
Then there was Simpson's now-you-see-it, now-you-don't wedding band and the couple's third anniversary on Oct. 26, which they spent several continents apart, with Lachey in L.A. and Simpson doing charity work in Africa. Their last public outing as a couple, at a Nov. 16 party at Hollywood club LAX, also fueled talk of a split. "Justin [Timberlake] at one point was making fun of Jessica because she was sitting with her arms folded toward Nick, kind of scowling at him," says an observer. "He was imitating her, like, 'What's up with that?' "
And yet despite all the speculation, friends on both sides say that the official word of a breakup still came as a jolt. "It kept being reported as if they'd split, and they hadn't," says Jimmy Swan, a longtime friend of the Simpson family. "This really was new."
