Nicole Richie has long been known as an animal lover and it seems she has Prince to thank for getting her started.
At a recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy FallonThe 42-year-old actress shared that she has a new cat in her life, Lavender Bumblebee, and spoke about her affinity for all animals, including ferrets, which she had illegally smuggled from Nevada to California when she was younger.
While talking about her variety of pets and their equally fascinating nicknames, the said Great news Star confirmed that it was the “Purple Rain” hitmaker who began her now decade-long love affair with puppies.
“Prince gave me my first dog,” she told Jimmy, 49, as the audience let out a synchronized “aww.” In response to this, the… SNL alum asked how she remembered something like that, to which she gave a hilarious and brutally honest answer.
“I remember because the dog’s name was God. Of course I didn’t give the dog a name,” laughed Nicole. “I was very young. I was about – I was about four, but that was my first dog.”
Since her first dog many moons ago, Nicole has certainly not stopped taking in other animals. According to her Instagram page, she and her husband are Joel Madden I currently have at least two German Shepherds, several chickens and a bearded dragon.
In a 2021 post, she even showed off her close relationship with her reptile by taking a photo of the animal climbing up her collar and neck and sharing it on Instagram.
“Being a working mom is so hard,” she wrote.
As if the couple’s pet-filled home wasn’t wild enough, Nicole and her Good Charlotte band member husband, 45, share two children, 16-year-old Harlow and 14-year-old Sparrow. While the couple did their best to keep their children growing up, Nicole’s daughter and son couldn’t help but be in the spotlight show up to support their mother at the premiere of her new film, Don’t tell mom the babysitter is dead.
On the red carpet in early April, Harlow bore a striking resemblance to her mother, while Sparrow followed his father in photos from the event. The family of four also posed for photos alongside the teen’s grandfather. Lionel Richiehis girlfriend Lisa Parigi and her grandmother Brenda Harvey-Richie.
Their family will also soon grow with another member, as Lionel’s younger daughter, Sofia Richie Graingeis just is expecting her first child, due in early summer. ET spoke with Nicole and her pop star father, 74, in Don’t tell mom the babysitter is dead premiere and they could hardly contain their excitement Welcoming a new little girl into the family.
“[Sofia’s] “We keep stumbling… right now we’re just waiting for the baby to come,” Lionel shared with ET by the time. “Pop-Pop is ready, make no mistake.”
Nicole is a first-time aunt to her own side of the family – her husband’s twin. Benji MaddenShe is married to an actress Cameron Diaz and the couple have two sons together – and said she might be more excited than her own little sister, who she said she loves “more than anything”. Instagram post from 2023.
“I’m beside myself, I don’t even know what to say,” said the mother of two. “I really need to contain all my excitement.”
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