Nicole Richie Is Ready To Live The Simple Life Again

Nicole Richie’s current approach to the “simple life” is a far cry from when she traveled to the countryside with Paris Hilton to do manual labor and odd jobs on their iconic series more than 20 years ago.

Nowadays, the TV personality and fashion designer winds down with ResortPass, which allows her to take a “daycation” at five-star resorts. With her ResortPass credits, Richie organizes spa days with her girlfriends or simply relaxes by the hotel pool without having to pay for a pricey room key.

“I’ve got my group chat, and we always love to figure out something fun to do together,” she tells Bustle from New York’s Dominick Hotel. “I like to go and get a cabana and have some drinks and just chill. We don’t think we deserve a daycation, but we do.”

She may be heading into similar territory very soon on TV. On May 13, Richie and her longtime friend Hilton announced a new project with Peacock, which they’ve been teasing with throwback photos and clips from their Simple Life days, when they still called each other Sill and Bill.

Richie tells Bustle that she and Hilton have been talking almost every day as they’re in pre-production on their upcoming TV project. “I love it when work is fun, and I know that we’re going to have a very fun time,” she teases.

Below, Richie opens up about her daycation go-tos, her TV career, and the surprising celebrity she met on The Simple Life.

What are your go-to spots for a day with ResortPass?

I love going to the Four Seasons. I haven’t been to The Edition yet, but I would love to do that. I like to be outside and breathe in fresh air, so I [go to hotels] where I can be in a cabana by a pool, having a little cocktail, and just living and loving.

When you do decide to get on a plane and go on an actual vacation, what’s your plane routine?

My plane routine is very long. I like to be clean. I have a seat cover that I made. I put on gloves, and I just wipe down everything with Wet Ones. Then I put on my cozy socks, which have photos of my German Shepherds on them, and I sneak my bathroom bag with all of my oils into my seat because they like you to put everything above the plane, but [you] can’t do that with the oils. I break out my iPad and a book and I put a little ointment on my nose so that I don’t dry out on the plane.

How do you deal with jet lag?

I can’t defeat jet lag, but what I do is go outside as much as possible and eat at the normal times of the day instead of eating in the middle of the night just because [I’m] hungry.

What can you tell us about your new show with Paris Hilton?

Unfortunately, I cannot share anything right now, but it’s been 20 years since we worked together, and we wanted to find a way to celebrate that. So we created something very special. I’m excited to be able to share more very soon.

Have you guys kept in touch with the people you met while doing The Simple Life?

I know that Paris has stayed in touch with members of the Leding family, who we stayed with all of Season 1, and I’ve had a few run-ins here and there. Kesha was on Season 3, and I’ve seen her since, which is so amazing.

What do you remember about meeting Kesha?

I never forgot her. She was trying to be a singer when we went to her house, and she gave me her CD. I believe the song was called “I Made Out with a Rockstar” and I used to listen to it all the time. I was like, this song is very good. Then she blew up years later, and I was so happy for her, but I’ve always known that girl had some talent.

What was your favorite thing about doing The Simple Life?

One of the best parts about The Simple Life was that it had nothing to do with our actual lives. It was us going into other people’s lives and living their lives, and then doing it for a day and then leaving.

Your reality shows that have come after The Simple Life blurred the lines between reality and comedy.

They were all softly scripted shows. Candidly Nicole came from me being approached to do a talk show. I just didn’t feel like I would be good at that, but I did have questions about life. It was just me exploring different things in the world that I was curious about. Even though barely anyone saw it, Nikki Fre$h is the show I’m most proud of because I wrote the show and all of the songs, and it was so much fun.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.