Lance Bass is happily engaged to fiancé Michael Turchin, but slightly over a decade ago, the former *NSYNC singer was still in the closet.
“I came out to my family around 21, 22. It was hard, but once I ripped the Band-Aid off, it was incredible,” Lance told Billy Bush and Kit Hoover on Wednesday’s Access Hollywood Live. “Everyone was so supportive – my family loves me just [the way] I am.”
The 34-year-old also kept his sexuality from his *NSYNC bandmates – but Joey Fatone found out by accident.
“Joey walked in on me with the guy I was dating just kind of sitting on my lap. Straight guys don’t do that,” Lance laughed. “He was like, ‘Dude, I don’t care.’ I’m like, ‘Surprise!’ Joey was just like, ‘Dude, I don’t care. I have so many gay friends – I don’t care.’
“It was a few months after that before I told the [rest of] the guys… I don’ t think anyone was surprised,” he added.
Lance is now executive producing Lifetime’s “Celebrity Home Raiders” (which will be co-hosted by Access’ Kit Hoover), where stars will donate items from their homes to be auctioned off in support of charities.
“I started this eight years ago,” Lance said, explaining how the idea for the show came about. “I was cleaning out the *NSYNC warehouses and I was like, what are we going to do with all this stuff? I was like, I should start a website where celebrities put their stuff on there and all the money raised goes to their charity.”
“Celebrity Home Raiders” kicks off Thursday night at 10 PM on Lifetime.
— Erin O’Sullivan
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