We investigate the exact travelling wave solutions of the Tzitzéica-Dodd–Bullough–Mikhailov (TDBM) and Tzitzéica-type (TT) equations, appear in nonlinear optics, using simple ansatz approach. We use the Painlevé and traveling wave transformations to convert the mentioned nonlinear equations into nonlinear ordinary differential equations. Then, the simple ansatz approach has been employed to procure wave solutions, in terms of bright, singular soliton and trigonometric functions, for the Tzitzéica-Dodd–Bullough–Mikhailov (TDBM) and Tzitzéica-type (TT) equations. The study shows that the simple ansatz approach is straightforward and easy to implement for solving nonlinear problems.