Lance Bass is set to reflect on a critical moment in his journey toward living as his true self for a forthcoming movie.
Appearing on the “Pod Meets World” podcast this week, Bass and Danielle Fishel confirmed that they are at work on a film that will depict their love story. The two stars met in 1999 when ABC invited Bass’ band *NSYNC to perform for a special “TGIF” live show. The event was hosted by Fishel, who at the time was starring alongside Ben Savage on the ABC series “Boy Meets World.”
“For those who don’t know, I dated Lance for about a year while I was on ‘Boy Meets World,’” the actor recalled. “It was my senior year and Lance came with me to my high school prom.”
Bass came out as gay in a 2006 interview with People magazine, later revealing that he’d opened up about his sexuality to fellow pop star Britney Spears two years earlier. He married artist Michael Turchin in 2014.
In his “Pod Meets World” interview, the singer said he hoped to shine a light on a less-discussed aspect of the LGBTQ experience by opening up about his relationship with Fishel.
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“I think so many people can relate to that story,” he explained. “So many people in the LGBTQ community, their prom night was the night that they were like: ‘Oh, wait a minute. This can’t happen anymore. I can’t do this anymore.’ This was the catalyst for me that made me start to accept myself, which took a long time after that. But that was definitely the first little straw that broke.”
The movie’s script is written by Mary Holland and Lauren Lapkus. And while Fishel didn’t divulge the exact timeline of her romance with Bass, she thought she and the pop star were going to marry even after the relationship had ended.
“I held on for hope for way too long that Lance and I were going to get back together and get married and have a family,” she said, before quipping, “It turns out I’m not Lance’s type.”
Though *NSYNC has been on an official hiatus since 2002, the group continues to rank alongside the Backstreet Boys and New Kids on the Block as one of the most beloved boy bands of all time. In addition to Bass, the band’s members included JC Chasez, Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick and Justin Timberlake.
Timberlake was noticeably absent in 2019 when the rest of *NSYNC reunited to perform with Ariana Grande at the Coachella music festival. When Fishel asked who he’d pick as *NSYNC’s fifth member if Timberlake continued to opt-out of future reunions, Bass said it was a no-brainer.
“Oh, I know exactly who it would be… Darren Criss,” he replied. “He loves boy bands. He’s from that era. He would just be the perfect fit with us.”
Listen to Bass’ full “Pod Meets World” appearance below.