Celebrity Mound

Pop diva Jessica Simpson told Pop Tarts last year that she had the same dreams as “every normal person” to make records, babies and “hopefully get married soon.” But it looks like that won’t be happening any time soon with her now ex-boyfriend Tony Romo.

Simpson was undoubtedly suffering the 29th birthday blues on Friday having been dumped just the night before by longtime lover Romo, but a source close to Simpson told Tarts that the “sudden” split wasn’t so sudden after all.

“It was a long time coming, he hasn’t really been into her and the relationship for awhile, but stayed together because he didn’t want to look like a jerk for not having a better reason to break it off,” said our source. “And she’s trying to save face by saying that it’s because of their busy schedules.”

Another inside source said that Jessica’s manager/father Joe Simpson’s meddling ways most likely took its toll on the relationship, which is the reason why they split the first time fourteen months ago. We’re told Joe promised he’d take a step back when the couple reunited but he was still too involved in his daughter’s private life.

“At one point Joe was even giving Tony football advice which doesn’t go down well,” said an insider. “Tony was a football superstar before he got mixed up in Hollywood, this move will be probably be good at least for his career.”

And not to mention the pop princess/country crooner was eager to tie-the-knot again, something Romo apparently wasn’t ready to do.

So while Miss Simpson sought solace and spent the special birthday weekend with her folks, Romo partied like a rockstar at Hollywood hotspot MyHouse on Friday night with a pack of (mostly male) pals. According to an eyewitness, Romo and his entourage drank GreyGoose and took over the dance floor until the club closed and when some hot ladies approached their table Romo certainly didn’t shy away and happily chatted until the early hours.

Reps for Romo and Simpson declined to comment.

(source)

A source close to Simpson confirms they broke up the night before her 29th birthday July 10. She was supposed to celebrate with a Ken and Barbie-themed party. (On Simpson’s birthday, Romo spent the night at Los Angeles hot spot My House.)

“She canceled her party because of this,” the source said. “She’s doing OK.”

“Barbie party didn’t happen, but I turned 29 and feel like I am on top of the world yelling I LOVE GETTING OLDER!” she wrote on her Twitter page Saturday.

Later, she wrote: “Everyone needs to know that hope floats…grab the strings and pull it back to you… Falling asleep with my mom and the dogs. Please, Lord, give all of my beautiful fans, friends, enemies, and family rest. Bring all of us peace.”

A close friend of Romo’s talked about the split: “It’s been a long time coming.”

Still, another source said the volatile couple could always get back together. “They go from one fight right into another, without a second break,” the source said. “It’s always something with Jessica.”

Simpson’s rep had no comment.

Simpson – who turned 29 July 10 – began dating Romo, 29, in November 2007 — around the two-year anniversary of her split with Nick Lachey (who, incidentally, recently split with his girlfriend Vanessa Minnillo).

Simpson said she was watching a Cowboys game with her family when a segment on the quarterback aired, during which he said Simpson was his celebrity dream crush.

“My family was like, ‘Did you just hear that?’” Simpson told the June 2008 issue of Glamour. “His picture came up, and I’m like, ‘He’s really cute.’ Then I heard [that I was his crush], and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh!’”

They later met after a pal introduced Romo to her dad, Joe. Simpson said she and Romo then began flirting “over e-mail and on the phone.”

On their first date, Simpson told Glamour, “I had butterflies that you would not imagine. I wanted to puke in the cup holder … It took me forever to put together an outfit!”

He tried to kiss her on their first date. “I was taken aback….

“The fact that this guy, on our first date, in the first 10 minutes of dinner, wanted to lean over the table and say, ‘This is my girl, and I want to kiss her’ — our first kiss in front of everybody — was awesome,” she recalled to Glamour.

During their relationship, Simpson credited Romo with helping her change as a person.

“He reintroduced me to myself,” Simpson told Glamour. “I thought that I had to be deeper, more profound and more artsy. You change with the guys you date.”

“Tony taught me that because he loves me [as me]. He made me feel comfortable [being myself] again,” she said.

(She even dedicated the tune “You’re My Sunday” to the football star while recently touring.)

Despite professing her love for Romo, their relationship underwent its share of scrutiny.

Last year Simpson was nicknamed “Yoko Romo” by Cowboys fans who thought she was bad luck to Romo’s football performance. Appearing on the Late Show With David Letterman, she even joked that she’ll never again wear her pink No.9 jersey to games.

Simpson – who the subject of much debate after she showed off a fuller figure earlier this year – told this June’s Vanity Fair that they didn’t let the criticism get to them.

“We don’t let it affect our relationship,” she said. “If we did, we wouldn’t be together, because it happened at the very beginning. Dating the Cowboys quarterback comes with hype, the fans, the bloggers, but I’ve never dated a guy that was more simple. I’m always there for him after a game, and he knows he has me to come home to.”

(source)