Proving she's moved beyond the Chicken of the Sea incident of her past TV life, Jessica Simpson is tackling more important issues -- such as walking the runway in Paris and visiting a "fattening hut" in Uganda -- for her new Vh1 series, "The Price of Beauty."

A petrified Simpson steps into an African hut intended to plump up its female inhabitants, but as Simpson reveals in a new clip promoting the series, it was all in the name of research.

Along with hairstylist/sidekick Ken Paves and BFF Cacee Cobb, the singer-actress-designer-TV-host tours the world to find out how women in other cultures perceive beauty for the new reality series, which debuts on March 15.

Through traveling the world, Jessica learns that the desire to be attractive -- and all the inherent insecurities that come along with it -- is a universal theme among women.

"Every single person I've met, I can relate to," she says in the promotional clip.

We think it will be intriguing (and somewhat entertaining) to watch a celebrity, who ends up on the cover of multiple weekly magazines for a single unflattering photo, playing the role of a modern-day Margaret Mead.

However, it's pretty clear that the starlet doesn't have the impartiality of a cultural anthropologist when she visits a Ugandan fat hut, where tribal women go to pack on extra pounds before their weddings.

Jessica's eyes pop when she meets one inhabitant of the hut who's been there for two pre-nuptial months on a mission to plump up.

"The men here think fat is beautiful," a female guide explains to Simpson and her pals. "Gosh, that's the complete opposite of anything I've ever experienced." (Cue "Newlyweds" clip of a tiny Simpson walking down the aisle to marry now ex-hubby Nick Lachey.)

We also get to watch a tense Simpson working with a runway coach to prep for her trip down the catwalk in a Paris fashion show.

The coach is concerned because the stressed celebrity is biting her lip. "You seem nervous," her mentor says. "Yeah, I'm not a model," Jessica responds, later admitting that walking the runway, "is a huge fear of mine."

Just for kicks, we hope Simpson includes a clip from her odd ear candle Twitter video, which features Paves singing Christmas carols in the background. Talk about odd beauty rituals.