Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo at the Barnstable-Brown Kentucky Derby eve party

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Posted on Sunday, May 06, 2007 (EST)
Nick Lachey and girlfriend Vanessa Minnillo. Lachey looked dapper in a designer tux while his date opted for a revealing spaghetti-strapped number with matching black heels and a beaded bag.

by Ruchira Haldar 5/6/07

06 May 2007 (Sawf News) - He's the ex-frontman for boy band 98 Degrees and the ex-husband of singer Jessica Simpson. She's a former VJ for the MTV show Total Request Live. Kentucky-born Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo have been making headlines for their steamy relationship, now a year old. The two recently started sharing closet space in a two-bedroom condominium in the swanky Atelier building in Manhattan, which boasts a basketball court and indoor pool among its amenities.

The loved-up pair also recently attended the annual Tricia Barnstable-Brown Kentucky Derby Eve gala party, a charity benefit which also doubles as the most important social event for Derby Eve. The benefit is held for diabetes research in honor of Mrs. Barnstable-Brown's late husband David who passed away in 2003. Incidentally, it is also the place where Larry Birkhead first met the late Anna Nicole Smith.

Lachey's In Love

Several members of the glitterati were on hand to celebrate this exciting occasion, including Jenny McCarthy, photographer and father of Anna Nicole Smith's daughter Larry Birkhead, singer Kid Rock, and actor Jerry O'Connell. The dress code, being for a gala event, was black-tie and everyone looked the part. No exception to this rule was glamour-couple Nick Lachey and girlfriend Vanessa Minnillo. Lachey looked dapper in a designer tux while his date opted for a revealing spaghetti-strapped number with matching black heels and a beaded bag.

It seems that girlfriend Vanessa has been stepping into Jessica Simpson's shoes of late. First, starring in a music video with Nick, moving in with him, making films, and launching her own line of cosmetics, called Flirt!. Voted number 15 in the Hot 100 issue of Maxim men's magazine, this Filipino stunner and former Miss Teen USA certainly seems to be giving the ex-Mrs. Lachey a run for her money! Her next big project is the Fantastic Four sequel, in which she plays the romantic interest of Johnny Storm. It's no shock that Lachey's hitting a higher note these days.