Nicole Richie split rumors 'completely untrue' says dad Lionel

Dad to the rescue! After a rumor that Nicole Richie was splitting from husband Joel Madden began to circulate, the jewelry designer's father Lionel Richie has now set the record straight. “It’s completely untrue,” Lionel tells HELLO!

Speculation of a breakup came after movers were spotted at the couple's home in the Hollywood Hills. “They’ve bought a new house and the moving van was pulling up at their old house to move to the new one," the legendary singer explains. "Hence the story they are breaking up."

Nicole and Joel have two children together, Harlow, 7, and Sparrow, 5, and life in their household couldn't seem happier, according to Lionel. “I went over to the new place recently and there were the Pup-Pups – otherwise known as my grandchildren – running around all excited showing me their new yard and their new pool," he said.

But, the father-daughter-duo did discuss the breakup talk during their visit. He recalls: "‘Aren’t you going to clear [the rumors] up?’ I asked Nicole. ‘Nah, it’s okay,’ she said."

"She’s a seasoned Richie,” he continues in the interview, given ahead of his June 25 performance at London's prestigious Butterfly Ball event held by charity Caudwell Children, which supports disabled children and their families. “But, as I said to Nicole, ‘Rumor you don’t worry about. It’s when they print something and it’s true you need to worry.’”

Nicole, 33, and Joel, 36, who married at Lionel’s Bel Air mansion in 2010, may not be speaking out against the rumors, but were recently seen walking hand-in-hand to a U2 concert held in Los Angeles.

Read the full story in this week's HELLO! magazine, available now via digital download or, this Friday at all Barnes & Noble stores and selected newsstands.