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Nicole Richie<\/a>\u00a0has long been known as a lover of animals and it seems that Prince is to thank for getting her started.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n During a recent appearance on <\/span>The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon<\/span><\/em>, the 42-year-old actress shared that she has a new cat in her life, Lavender Bumblebee, and discussed her affinity for all animals, including ferrets, which she copped to illegally smuggling into California from Nevada in her youth.<\/span><\/p>\n While talking about her array of pets and their equally intriguing monikers, the <\/span>Great News<\/span><\/em> star confirmed that it was the “Purple Rain” hitmaker who kicked off her now decades-long love affair with pups.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “Prince\u00a0got me my first dog,” she told Jimmy, 49, as the audience let out a synchronized “aww.” In response, the <\/span>SNL <\/span><\/em>alum asked how she remembers something like that, to which she had a hilarious and brutally honest retort.<\/span><\/p>\n “I remember because the dog’s name was God. I did not name the dog, obviously,” Nicole laughed. “I was very young. I was around — I was around four but that was my first dog.”<\/span><\/p>\n Since that first dog many moons ago, Nicole has certainly not slowed down on taking in other animals. According to her Instagram page, she and husband <\/span>Joel Madden<\/a> currently have at least two German Shepherds, several chickens and a bearded dragon.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In a post back in 2021, she even showed off her close relationship with her reptile, snapping a pic of the animal climbing up her collar and neck and sharing it to Instagram.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “Being a working mom is so hard,” she wrote.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If the couple’s house wasn’t wild enough with the animals, Nicole and her Good Charlotte band member hubby, 45, share two children, 16-year-old Harlow and Sparrow, 14. While the pair has done their best to keep their kids out of the spotlight growing up, Nicole’s daughter and son couldn’t help but <\/span>show up to support their mom<\/a> at the premiere of her new film, <\/span>Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead<\/span><\/em>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n On the red carpet in early April, Harlow bore a striking resemblance to her mom while Sparrow took after his dad in photos from the event. The family of four also posed for pictures alongside the teens’ grandfather,\u00a0<\/span>Lionel Richie<\/a>, his girlfriend,\u00a0Lisa Parigi, and their grandmother,\u00a0Brenda Harvey-Richie.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Their family will soon grow by one more too as Lionel’s younger daughter, <\/span>Sofia Richie Grainge<\/a>, is currently <\/span>expecting her first child<\/a>, due early summer. ET spoke with Nicole and her pop-star dad, 74, at the <\/span>Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead<\/span><\/em> premiere and they could hardly contain their excitement over <\/span>welcoming a new baby girl<\/a>\u00a0into the family.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “[Sofia’s] bumping along… right now we’re just waiting for the baby to arrive,” Lionel\u00a0<\/span>shared with ET<\/a>\u00a0at the time. “Pop-pop is ready, make no mistake.”<\/span><\/p>\n Nicole is a first-time aunt on her own side of the family — her husband’s twin, <\/span>Benji Madden<\/a>, is married to actress <\/span>Cameron Diaz<\/a> and the pair shares two sons of their own — and said that she may be more excited than her own little sister, whom she said she loves “more than anything” in an <\/span>Instagram post back in 2023<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “I’m beside myself, I don’t even know what to say,” the mom of two said. “I have to, like, really contain all of my excitement.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n RELATED CONTENT:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n