Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon bonded over their nerves over their shared solo debuts.
The pair first met properly at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), where the 39-year-old singer was giving his first performance away from *NSYNC, and the former ‘Saturday Night Live’ cast member was the evening’s host and they were both feeling jittery backstage.
Speaking to his pal via video link on ‘The Tonight Show: Home Edition’, Jimmy recalled: "I remember back being stage with you at the VMAs when we shared dressing rooms kind of. We were almost connected… I remember I was pacing down stairs and I think I was dressed as a superhero or something.
"I was like pacing, and I’m like, ‘I’m so nervous! I hope this hosting thing goes well because you know, if I host this and that’s my career.’ And you go, ‘Yeah well, this is my first solo thing ever, so…’
"No one even heard what you sounded like as a solo artist."
Justin joked he should have waited to make his debut on such a huge platform.
He quipped: "In retrospect, maybe not the greatest decision. Maybe I should have put the song out first so people knew who I was."
The evening proved to be the start of a long friendship for the two stars as they bonded over their shared sense of humour and not much has changed over the years.
Justin said: "I remember we were both nervous. But the funny thing about our friendship even when it first started is that… nothing was that serious.
"We kind of like, we started doing bits back and forth. You know, and that’s all we do now."
The ‘Can’t Stop the Feeling’ hitmaker – who has son Silas, four, with wife Jessica Biel – is proud of the message his new movie, ‘Trolls World Tour’, sends to young audiences.
He said: "What’s great about this one is we’re using, you know, different genres of music to kind of bring the message home to young people — and probably remind some older people, too — that we’re all different and that should be celebrated."
Justin Timberlake bonded with Jimmy Fallon over solo nerves
