Jessica Simpson's Elle Magazine Spread And Interview

Jessica Simpson says seeing Nick Lachey with another woman after their split was painful.

"Oh, it hurt me," Simpson tells Elle in its March issue. "Two or three weeks later? Yeah, I'd say it kind of hurt me."

(After their November 2005 separation, her ex was photographed with Laguna Beach star Kristin Cavallari. He's now dating MTV's Vanessa Minnillo.)

But Simpson, 26, says she's still in touch with Lachey, 33. "He's so much a part of my life, how could I not be? Any guy who's going to be