Jessica Simpson and Nicole Richie just started taping their upcoming NBC reality series, Fashion Star, but the two designers are already getting along like old pals.

At a Friday taping of NBC’s midseason series in Los Angeles, Simpson, 31, and Richie, 29, gabbed in between takes and applauded each other as they offered feedback to aspiring designers.

“Nicole and Jess seemed to get along really well,” an eyewitness tells Us Weekly of the Winter Kate and Jessica Simpson Collection fashion moguls.

Clad in a black sparkly mini dress, Simpson clapped enthusiastically as her fellow reality show mentor was introduced to the crowd. Though the onlooker tells Us Simpson appeared fidgety at first, she was able to loosen up quite quickly. “She danced in her seat to the house music, almost as if releasing nervous energy,” says the witness.

NBC executives couldn’t be more thrilled to have Simpson, Richie, fellow mentor John Varvatos and host Elle MacPherson on board. “Jessica, Nicole, John and Elle make the most exciting team we have ever worked with on a reality television show and we are thrilled to feature such an extraordinary group of mentors and designers,” Fashion Star’s executive producer, Ben Silverman, has said of his cast.

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