CBB Exclusive: A Nicole Richie and Joel Madden update

We’ve chatted again with our CBB-exclusive source, who first confirmed the Richie-Madden pregnancy for us back in June, and has been giving us intermittent updates since. With the latest tabloid rumors swirling (it’s a boy, Nicole smoking — not true — she’s having trouble with the pregnancy, etc), this friend of Joel’s wanted to clear a few things up.

Click below for the latest.

They’re absolutely great, and really anxious for the baby tocome. Nicole is getting nervous about the birth, which has been a fearin the back of her mind since she found out she was pregnant. It’s justfear of the unknown, she’s never been through it, so she can’t imaginewhat it’s really going to be like. Joel is so cute — he watches birthingshows with her, and is really comforting to her.

TheyHAVE NOT found out the sex, and they are not going to. They have a fewnames they like, but he won’t share since nothing is final. Hesays they aren’t telling ANYONE (even their parents) name ideas, andthey really want it to be a surprise.

They’vejust begun casual talk about a wedding. Before, they really nevertalked about wedding plans because the baby was the only priority. Butnow, with the pregnancy in the final months, they’re starting todiscuss broad topics (location, big or small, etc.) Definitely nowedding date yet and it won’t be for a while! (Despite what thetabloids keep saying.)

 

Overall, they’re really great. I keep saying this, but it’s really amazing to see, Joel is a completely different person than he was before Nicole. She has changed his life in ways no one can imagine.

Comments

I find it odd that someone so close to the two of them would keep giving info to the public. I would be mad if I was Nicole or Joel. Even though the source says kind things, I would think that Nicole and Joel would speak for themselves if they wanted people to know this stuff.

- Sara on November 8th, 2007

It’s so great that this trusted source can provide some inside info! They make a very cute couple. Does the source know if Nicole will be having a baby shower?

Sarah’s note: The source hasn’t said. They only tend to refute things and make corrections to what the press has reported — most info they don’t share with us as they are close with Joel and only pass along what is okay with him.

- Lissette on November 8th, 2007

I love this couple, can’t wait to see what they have although I think it’s a boy. The source really isn’t giving any interesting stuff though, just that their happy which we would assume considering their first baby is due soon lol. I’m thinking they don’t share much with people they know, in case there are sources like this that come back to report on sites and stuff lol.

- gianna on November 8th, 2007

Thank you for this info

Cute couple
They seem to be so in love

- patricia night on November 8th, 2007

you know,i really believe that having each other & the baby really HAS changed them both. i think it is all a very good thing,and i would like to think that they are perhaps soulmates and meant for each other always. time would tell on that one,since im not nicole or joel so i cant feel how theyre feeling. i just know im married to my best friend/soulmate (my husband) and it is wonderful. itd be nice for them if it was the same with their relationship. they also seem truly happy to be having this baby. (my one mega rant: i just wish to god she would stop wearing the mega-heels :p)

- M on November 8th, 2007

aw, so good for them. what a happy story, seems like they need each other (in a good way!), and that’s fabulous. babies are great, and i hope they have a wonderful time in the coming months.

- jaQ on November 8th, 2007

It’s a little odd to me that this inside source keeps giving info. Joel and Nicole seem very private and I would be mad if someone close to me was feeding info. Even if it is nice.

Sarah’s note: The friend only shares what Joel is okay with people knowing and is very careful about that. Here’s the response to some of the comments left on CBB today:

Nicole is having a baby shower, but they won’t share exactly when it is.

In response to some of the comments about Nicole & Joel sharing info, you’re exactly right. They don’t share a lot of information about their situation and the baby with anyone. I’m very close friends with Joel, and I have been for many years. We talk all the time, and he’s made it very clear that although he wants to share all the great things going on in his life with everyone, the fact that they are celebrities (and Nicole, even more so than him, is always having her privacy invaded by the cameras and tabloids) makes that impossible.

If he were to let one thing slip, even to his closest friends, that could set off an army of paparazzi trying to snap a shot of a baby shower, or anything else. This is a sensitive subject with Nicole, and she is very hesitant about having their private information shared.

As you probably know, before she even met Joel, she was constantly hounded about her weight, her drama with Paris Hilton, and everything else you can imagine. That was hard enough for her, but it’s a whole different league now because there is a baby involved. She and Joel are trying to do everything in their power to protect their new family from the press and paparazzi that used to be unbearable.

They do love their fans, and they really appreciate the fact that people wish them well. Their privacy is just something they are trying hard to maintain.

Updates once the baby is actually born may be more interesting to you than pregnancy/relationship updates, and I know Joel will be more likely to share those. I’ll keep you posted.

- Sara on November 8th, 2007

It makes me mad to hear that there have been rumors going around that they are expecting a boy. I mean, Nicole has stated several times that they are trying not to find out the sex of the baby before it’s born! Personally, I think people should respect that and not start rumors about what sex the baby is. Even if Nicole and Joel DO end up deciding to find out the baby’s sex, I highly doubt they’ll be telling anybody what it is!

Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like the tabloids, paps, etc. actually seem to have a problem with celebs who choose not find out the gender of their babies before birth.

I also don’t think the media should be guessing the sex of unborn celeb babies when the parents make it clear that they do know the sex, but want to keep it private (like Christina Aguilera).

Anyway, I wish Nicole and Joel the best, and I think they will have a girl (especially since the media is saying they will have a boy. That practically guarantees that the baby will be the opposite gender. LOL!)

- Annoyomus on November 8th, 2007

Thanks for the updates, i particularly love reading it and i do hope they share bits and pieces with their fans.

i love how you said nicole and joel are private people. i’ve always thought that about nicole especially. its so funny that people think just because she is a paparazzi/tabloid fav. she’s not.
i mean we still don’t know anything about their relationship. all we see are pics of them holding hands. how did they meet? i heard her ex-fiance DJ AM introduced them years ago. true or false?

- Dani on November 9th, 2007

I have to agree with Sara on this. Even though I understand your answer to her I don’t agree with it. If the source is a close friend he should not be sharing anything.

It is what he himself says: Joel can’t share anything with even his closest friends because it will end up in the tabloids. What sort of “close” friends are this? A close friend should be able to keep quiet.

- Sarita on November 9th, 2007

wow, thankyou for sharing, i wish them both well with there little one, chrissy 28+3!

- chrissy on November 9th, 2007

Just out of curiosity, how did Nicole Ritchie become so famous? Is it just from that weird reality show she did with Paris Hilton and also that her dad’s Lionel Ritchie? It seems unusual that the paparazzi has been going nuts about her for a while when she isn’t really a big star. Not being rude, just an observation.

- Bella on November 9th, 2007

Bella, my answer will be;

the same reason you are reading and commenting on her. She has the “it” factor. I don’t even watch the simple life but i am positively obsessed with her style. Her life is a mystery. I was reading her bio on wiki and people can’t even agree on her race talk less her bio parents. I guess she is just an interesting and facinating person and that is okay with me

- Sole on November 9th, 2007

Presumably this source has been given approval from Nicole and Joel to speak to the media, so I can’t see a problem with this…

I wish them all the best. I was very dubious when I first heard about Nicole Richie’s pregnancy, but she really seems to have turned her life around, and seems to be conducting herself with grace and gratitude during her pregnancy. I can’t wait for the baby to arrive – I’m sure he/she will be beautiful!

- ZaraB on November 10th, 2007

She’s famous for being famous.

- HollyCatherineSlavic on November 10th, 2007

Sarita- I agree with ZaraB. After all, Sarah DID state twice (in her notes to Lissette and Sara) that the source only shares information that Joel (and obviously Nicole as well, but this source is a friend of Joel’s, so it’s Joel that tells them this stuff) is okay with the media and the public knowing.

I have a feeling that Joel probably told/asked the source to share certain information with the media, rather than the other way around. After all, he knows people are curious about the pregnancy!

Also, it’s not like the source has shared anything that might end up as a nasty tabloid story/rumor. Basically, all they did this time was debunk the tabloid rumors that have been going around (they’re having a boy, she’s having trouble with the pregnancy, etc. There was also the rumor about Nicole smoking, but we all knew that was false practically the moment it came out!).

- Annoyomus on November 11th, 2007

I love this couple. . . and these pictures. . . Nicole is definitely the most fashionable pregnant woman I have seen. . . I think they are definitely having a girl since Nicole’s belly is more round than oblong shaped.

- s.m. on November 11th, 2007

i think nicole is going to be a wonderful mother, and joel of course is going to make a wonderful away dad and im sure nicole will let her and joels parents keep the baby for the first months of its life.

- Anna on November 20th, 2007