Lance Bass: ‘Perez Hilton bullied me to come out’
By Nick Bond
Former NSYNC star Lance Bass reveals that his decision to come out in 2006 was made more difficult by ‘bullying’ he received at the hands of celebrity gossip blogger – including Perez Hilton.
Bass talks about his rocky road to coming out in Attitude’s Love & Marriage special commemorative issue, available now to download.
“Two years before I came out I was REALLY bullied on the internet by bloggers, that’s when Perez Hilton just started and was just really malicious against me. So, because of the bloggers like him hounding me, all the other magazines started calling me and saying, “Look, we know you’re gay, you can write the story with or without us, but we have to write it,” I decided to go with People and I think they did a great job. I had 24 hours to decide if I was going to come out or not, and within 24 hours it was on the stands,” Bass says.
The former boybander said he often thought about coming out at the height of *NSYNC’s success, but felt pressured not to.
“I had a lot of pressures on me at that point. Not only was I keeping the secret from my family, but I also had this career with four of my best friends. I knew, in the late 1990s/early 2000s, that if I came out, people would hate *NSYNC, and that would be the end of our career. There was no way I was going to do that to my four best friends, so, as long as I was with them, I was asexual. I wasn’t with a girl, I wasn’t with a guy, I just focused on work, and it kept me out of trouble. It wasn’t until I realised there wasn’t going to be another *NSYNC album that I felt ready! I wasn’t even that sad about the end of *NSYNC as I felt that I’d actually get to be myself from then on. That’s when I started finding myself and started dating guys – it was great.”
Alongside Lance and husband Michael Turchin’s in-depth interview, Attitude’s Love & Marriage issue also features plenty of other love-themed content, from profiles of everyday, real-life gay couples who’ve tied the knot to guides on every aspect of your big day.
The Love & Marriage special annual issue is available to download to your mobile, iPad or tablet device now, at Pocketmags.com/lovemarriage.
The commemorative issue is available to buy in WHSmiths at airports, train and travel stations and selected WH Smiths on the high street from next week. You can also have it delivered directly to your door at newsstand.co.uk.