Nicole Richie

All about Nicole
Nicole Richie was born Nicole Camille Escovedo to a musician and assistant on singer Lionel Richie's tour. Informally adopted by the Richies when she was two, Nicole was brought up as their daughter despite her parents' split and divorce. She grew up surrounded by famous faces; her godfathers are Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones. Nicole studied music and figure skating and has acting and singing aspirations, but first shot to fame as Paris Hilton's blonde sidekick in reality TV show The Simple Life.

Drugs, arrests and weight issues
Nicole's divorced parents vied to give their adopted daughter everything she wanted, and Nicole later said she shouldn't have had so much freedom. She started using drugs and alcohol at 13 and later confessed to a four-year addiction to heroin and cocaine. She has been arrested several times for posession of drugs and drug-related driving incidents, and was arrested for driving under the influence of drugs again in late 2006 (she admitted having smoked marijuana and taken the painkiller Vicodin) and again in . Nicole became a hot topic in the media after she slimmed down to worryingly skinny proportions in 2006.

Rehab and nutrition
Nicole finally went into rehab after an arrest for possession of heroin in 2003 and confronted the family problems she tried to block out for years with drink and drugs. After repeatedly denying an eating disorder while appearing at red carpet events looking skeletal, she finally admitted she was too thin in 2006 and has since sought a nutritionist's advice for her 'inability to gain weight.' Nicole also rekindled her friendship with childhood friend Paris Hilton after a bitter feud. Nicole has also written a semi-autobiographical novel, The Truth About Diamonds, and is said to be keen to start a music career. She's engaged to Good Charlotte frontman Joel Madden and gave birth to a baby daughter, Harlow Winter Kate, in January 2008.