Pop star Jessica Simpson conned boyfriend Nick Lachey into marrying her - by taking cooking lessons.

The pretty singer was desperate to become the former 98 DEGREES star's wife, but he insisted on waiting until she had "become a woman" before taking the next step in their relationship.

Simpson, 23, says, "It was like I still had to grow up. He wanted me to make sure that this was what I wanted to do.

"So I started taking cooking lessons because I wanted him to think that I'd grown up.

"I started cleaning up around his condo and all kinds of stuff. I guess he thought that was really cute, and I charmed him."

05/08/2003 21:25