"...It wasn't the first time Nick fell hard and got hurt, of course. You've probably heard about his very-public break-up with long-time girlfriend Willa Ford in October 2000. They were living together; they even had dogs together. During that time, she was trying to get her own recording career off the ground, while he was tring to get their relationship under wraps. "I'm pretty private," Nick says. "I don't like to expose too much about what's going on in my life when it comes to relationships becuase people start asking questions, and then everything about your life becomes open. But she always wanted me to tell everybody about us." When Willa got her own record deal, their relationship eventually fell apart. Nick's fans, thinking Willa was just using him, were outraged. They put up dozens of "I hate Willa Ford" Web sites with names like saynotowillaford.com and willafordsucks.com . But Nick never talked meanly about his ex. "When you talk about your relationship in the media, that's the reason a lot of bad stuff happens.," he says. "I just don't talk about that stuff very much. People start to make assumptions. It's bad." Okay, Nick. We can take a hint. Moving right along... "