Jessica has established herself as a respected designer with the introduction of her Jessica Simpson Collection — featuring an assortment of clothes, shoes, handbags, nightwear, and swimwear. Now Ashlee’s hoping her famous name will have similar success on the shelves of your favorite department store.

“Ashlee wants to start a clothing line. She wants it to be both preppy and punk rock. She thinks she can really succeed in fashion,” an insider dishes in the Nov. 23 issue of Star Magazine.

Ashlee was dropped from the cast of The CW’s Melrose Place remake last month. She has since landed the lead role of Roxie Hart in the Broadway production of Chicago, reprising the role she performed on London’s West End in 2006.

The singer-turned-actress landed a role as Violet Foster on the remake of the 1990s soap opera earlier this year, but was cut from the cast to make room from original series star Heather Locklear. Ashlee is now set to make her Broadway debut as Roxie Hart. And she’s already gotten plenty of practice; Ashlee first played Roxie on London’s West End in 2006.

Ashlee will begin her six-week Chicago stint in December.

“Ashlee was kicked off ‘Melrose Place’ because she was a total diva on set, late all the time, and deeply disliked by fellow cast members,” the loose-lipped informant blabbed. “It created a lot of discord among the cast. She could barely act,” the source said.

Producers, desperate to save the sinking series, wanted Heather Locklear to reprise her role as tough PR exec Amanda Woodward, but couldn’t afford her salary demands without cutting someone.

“They basically trimmed the fat and made it possible for Heather to join the show. Heather is a much bigger name than Ashlee….”

“She’s reading scripts. Acting is her focus now. If she had an album, she’d have to tour and be away from Bronx. She wants consistency….”

We wonder how this is going to work out since most people who saw her on Melrose are emphatic that the girl couldn’t act her way out of a wet paper bag?

“CW catching up on MP.who writes this crap?i have had bad scripts to work with,but this?thank God my sister is amazing and got you some press,” Jessica Tweeted on Sunday night.

Late last month, the network announced that Ashlee and co-star Colin Egglesfield would be dropped from the Melrose cast in January following the end of the “Who Killed Sydney?” storyline.

While the move may have come as a surprise to fans, executive producer Todd Slavkin claims it was in the cards all along.

“Heather was jealous of Ashlee immediately,” says an insider. “She knew Ashlee was one of the bigger names on set, and she wanted her gone so she could make it her show. Heather is very politcial and calculating…”

On Oct. 22, The CW abruptly announced that Ashlee along with co-star Colin Egglesfield had been booted from the show. Producers are hoping Heather’s familiar face will be a show-saving draw for the critically-panned and ratings-challenged Melrose 2.0. Informants say that’s precisely why bosses had no problem ditching Ashlee — who will exit her role as Violet Foster — after 48-year-old Heather complained she’d been poking fun of her age to other members of the cast and crew.

“She was a thorn in Heather’s side from the beginning. Ashlee came off as insincere and a wannabe diva….Her lack of talent didn’t help her…She feels like a fool.”

Heather Locklear reprises her role as Amanda on The CW’s Melrose Place Nov. 17.

The couple has put their sprawling hillside Beverly Hills estate on the market as they hunt for a home with a yard for baby son Bronx, a source tells Life & Style Magazine. “The house is built into the side of a giant hill and it doesn’t really have any yard. Now that Bronx is getting older they realised that really isn’t a child-friendly house,” a tipser divulged.

“They are going to sell this house and look for something that will be better suited to young children.”

Ashlee bought the home in January 2007. It features four bedrooms, a gym, a gourmet kitchen, swimming pool, and two-store guesthouse.

Their departure comes just a few weeks after original Melrose vixen Heather Locklear began filming scenes for upcoming episodes that will premiere next month. Word is the critically-panned, low-rated redux will begin transitioning to a “lighter, more fun” style, although executive producer Todd Slavkin maintains that the changes were on the table all along.

When was the original Melrose Place ever “light and fun?”

“Once that murder mystery was solved, [Ashlee’s character] would go on her way,” he said. “That was the original plan going into the development of the show.”

Simpson-Wentz and Egglesfield took the news “like professionals,” says Slavkin. “Because they knew ahead of time [that leaving was a possibility], it wasn’t a complete shock.”

Despite weeks of disappointing ratings, on Wednesday, The CW picked the series up for a full season run.

The couple was celebrating the first anniversary of Wentz’s Chicago bar Angels & Demons when Ashlee began shouting at him to leave in front of partygoers on August 15.

The Melrose Place star been drinking heavily and the pair continued to argue ferverishly as they exited the venue.

A source told gossip blogger Perez Hilton: “Pete was in the DJ booth when Ashlee came up completely wasted and yelled at him to leave. They fought, she told him he was horrible in front of a whole group of people and made him leave his own party early. So they make a scene and leave the bar.”

When someone tried to take a photo of the couple, Ashlee “chased the guy down the street and made him erase the pictures.”

The couple – who have a 10-month-old son Bronx – were then ushered into a car by their security team and taken home.

Ashlee, 24, has since denied she and 30-year-old Pete fought at the bar.

Writing on her Twitter page, she tells Perez: “Your story is WAY off. my husband is an amazing dj and was dedicating songs to me. We were just havin fun. Our love is amazing. (sic)”

Earlier this year, Ashlee admitted to verbally assaulting actress Michelle Tractenberg, Pete’s former girlfriend, while she was intoxicated.