Nicole Richie Details Getting Set Up with Joel Madden, Says He Ignored Her When They First Met

Richie opened up about her relationship with the Good Charlotte rocker during her appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast Wednesday, where she revealed the the now married couple were "set up."

"A friend set us up," Richie revealed when asked how she met Madden. "Our friend set us up, not in a serious way at all. She was like, 'You're single. He's single. So, this is not going to be serious, but you guys should hangout.'"

She continued, "Joel is very shy. The first night I met him, he actually didn't speak to me, and I was like, 'This is my husband.'"

Even though they didn't really speak during that first night out, Richie knew that Madden was into her romantically.

"He ended up texting. … Or email. I don't know," Richie added. "Whatever was happening back then."

Richie said the pair initially bonded over pop culture interests, mainly their -- or should we say his -- love for the HBO TV show, The Wire, which Madden was super into at the time.

"He hates when I tell this story," Richie said, recalling one night when Madden invited her over to watch TV and asked if she was a fan of the show.

"Never seen The Wire in my life. I go, 'The Wire is my favorite show,'" she said. "Obviously, The Wire is an amazing show. I'm not dissing The Wire, but OK, I'm a girl. He just, like, threw me into season 3. There's no music. And I, for a very long time, pretended, like, I watched and loved The Wire."

She told Madden the truth "a few years" into their relationship. "But we have since rewatched The Wire."

Four years after their 2006 meeting, Richie and Madden announced that they were engaged. By December 2010, they were married. The couple have since welcomed two kids, daughter Harlow, 16, and son Sparrow, 15.

Riche also looked back on the moment she introduced Madden to her best friend, Paris Hilton, who was also a guest on the podcast.

"Was it the same night? I don't know," Richie said while chatting with CHD host, Alex Cooper. "I feel like it was around Thanksgiving weekend, and it was pretty fast, I feel like, when you met him."

Hilton, who has reunited with Richie for the pair's The Simple Life "encore" was quick to co-sign Richie's relationship with Madden, adding that she "loved" the pair together from the start.

"I just thought they were so cute," Hilton recalled. "Joel is so sweet. He's so loyal. He's just one of those types of guys that's completely different than an L.A. guy."

As for dating in L.A. before the pair met their husbands -- Hilton has been married to Carter Reum since November 2021 and shares son Phoenix, 22 months, and daughter London, 13 months, with the entrepreneur -- the two have each experienced their fair share of horror stories, including finding out via the media that they've been cheated on.

"My first real boyfriend's AOL name was Playa4Life," Richie admitted of her then boo, who she said cheated on her three times. "And I was devastated and shocked to my core when he cheated on me. I couldn't believe it. I was like, 'Where were the signs?'"

As for how she found out about his infidelities, Richie said one of the girls he hooked up with actually told her about, and in a very 2000s way -- via a conference call.

"So, we called him on conference, and he obviously was like, 'I'm not gonna admit anything.' And then we had someone call her, so she got a call waiting, flipped to the other call, came back, and then he admitted it."

Hilton, meanwhile, said she too has been cheated on, adding that she found out about her ex's indiscretions via TMZ.

"Just so pissed," Hilton said of how she felt when finding out about her ex cheating. "It obviously hurts, but just like, mad. Like, 'How could you humiliate me like this?'"

While the longtime friends, who joked about using Heely-like shoes to skate away from guys at the club, said they are able to laugh about their past heartbreaks now, Richie admitted that those traumatic moments effect you "for life"

See the dynamic duo team up once more for Paris & Nicole: The Encore premieres December 12 on Peacock.