Vanessa Minnillo

We've heard the reasons why Nick Lachey digs Vanessa Minnillo with such passion. She likes sports, is a guy's gal, yadda, yadda, yadda.

We're guessing the kind of dance moves Minnillo showed off this weekend in Las Vegas don't hurt, either.

With Lachey nowhere to be seen, the former Miss Teen USA spent the even celebrating the release of John Tucker Must Die at Pure Nightclub in Caesar's Palace. The film's leading man, Jesse Metcalfe, was also there.

As reported by TMZ, Minnillo sang and chatted with the crowd, took pictures of herself with fan's cameras and downed what looked like a shot, which she did not seem to enjoy.

Forget who looks better - we'd like to see Jessica Simpson and Minnillo in a dance off, right, fellas?

They haven't exactly been sitting in a tree, but this hasn't stopped Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo from doing a lot of public k-i-s-s-i-n-g recently.

But why her, Nick? What is it about this host of MTV's Total Request Live?

"She's a guys' girl," a friend of the couple's told Us magazine for a cover story. "Jessica was always about going somewhere that was a scene with a big entourage. Vanessa can play darts and chill."

Evidently, balls also played a role. Not Nick's. Vanessa's love for them ... on the field.

After all, Minnillo also scored points for being a fellow sports nut. While Simpson rolled her eyes at Lachey's passion, Minnillo revels in it.

One story said that when she and Lachey were still in the platonic friendship stage, "Nick commented on his love for the [hometown NFL team], Cincinnati Bengals and Vanessa blew him away by running off the team's poor stats," says a Lachey source. "He tells friends, ‘It's like talking to your best guy friend, but she's a smoking-hot chick.'"

But just how hot? Check out this picture of Vanessa and Jessica and let us know!

Who's copying whom?

Considering the fact that Vanessa Minnillo got Jessica Simpson's sloppy seconds as far as men were concerned, it's safe to assume which hottie came up with the following outfit first:

We think Jessica takes the beautiful cake. What do YOU think?

We hope Jessica Simpson was busy studying her lines for The View on Wednesday afternoon.

At the very least, maybe her TV dial was broken; otherwise, the singer may have been tuned in to Total Request Live when ex-husband, Nick Lachey, appeared with girlfriend Vanessa Minnillo to promote his latest single. The pair was not unaffectionate:

The name of the single? I Can't Hate You Anymore. Absolutely no way that's referring to Simpson, right?

Stop the presses! A couple was acting like a couple!

Perhaps in an attempt to prove his non-wussiness, Nick Lachey brought babe friend, Vanessa Minnillo, to the New York City club Butter Monday night, where they partied with fellow celebrities, danced, kissed and partied throughout the evening.

Jessica Simpson was nowhere to be found this time, as Lachey - looking sharp as ever in jeans and a button-down shirt - and Minnillo, in a red dress, began the night chatting in their booth with Russell Simmons before Minnillo danced on the banquet to "Hips Don't Lie" by Shakira.

The Gossip wil need a second after hearing that ... okay ...

When Jay-Z's "99 Problems" came on at around 12:45 a.m., Minnillo indulged Lachey in what would be the first of several lap dances. Yes, SEVERAL.

The MTV VJ wasn't done yet, however. She was up on the dance floor again soon after giving Lachey 98 degrees of fun, dancing with Jamie-Lynn Sigler to the Jackson 5's "Want You Back" and "Sweet Home Alabama."

From there, the night simply rolled - and grinded - on. "SexyBack," by Justin Timerbake, came on and Minnillo settled into Lachey's lap and sang it to him.

But the song that Lachey enjoyed the most was the Rocky theme, "Eye of the Tiger," which got him waving his arms and moving his head to the beat.

Reports didn't state whether or not he hugged Apolla Creed on the beach.

Later, Lachey did shots with Wilmer Valderrama, who was holding court with friends including Erika Christensen. Finally, the pair left at 3 a.m., holding hands.

A rep for Lachey had no comment. Perhaps because there wasn't any real news - except for, you know, those scorching hot lap dances. Yowza!

Okay, maybe Jessica Simpson isn't THAT mature. After greeting ex-husband, Nick Lachey, with a friendly hug last week, Jess went on TRL yesterday and premiered her new video for "A Public Affair."

Sadly, Vanessa Minnillo - Lachey's current squeeze - wasn't hosting the program, leaving viewers without any enjoyable, violent cat fight. But when the video finally came on - involving Simpson skating around with gal pals, Christina Applegate and Eva Longoria - there appeared to be a direct slam at Minnillo.

While she's lacing up her boots, Jessica spots a hunky dark-haired stranger canoodling with a brunette; this supposed slut then has an aggressive fantasy focused on yanking out Simpson's hair in a fit of jealousy.

And just who plays this female foe? A TV entertainment reporter named Maria Menounos.

We're not sure if Jessica is trying for any real-life metahpors here, but if she is - well, we're confused. Didn't Simpson divorce Lachey?

Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo are one happy couple - and that doesn't sit well with one controlling father.

Reports allege that Joe Simpson - the paternal manager of Jessica and Ashlee, pictured on the left - tried to strong-arm a club into providing him security footage of a night Lachey was cohorting with Minnillo. According to a source cited by the New York Daily News:

"Joe was looking to incriminate Nick. He told the club, 'If you ever want to see my daughter there, you'll give me what I want.'"

Apparently it's illegal to attend a club after you're divorced. A Simpson rep called the story "preposterous," while Jessica wondered what that word meant.

In other Lachey and Minnillo news: The doormen in Minillo's apartment complex on the East Side of Manhattan probably wouldn't mind any scheme with Nick as the target.

They seem to miss Vanessa's former squeeze, Derek Jeter, "because he was much nicer and a lot more fun â€" and he didn't mind signing things for the boys." He also turned a better double play.

A TMZ spy says that Minillo and Lachey have entered the building and had the nerve to ignore the staff as they tried to elude paparazzi hot on their trail. Jeter, on the other hand, would have come up big in this clutch situation, satisfying the demands of all involved.