Lance Bass feared ‘N Sync would be hated if he came out.
The 35-year-old singer wed his partner of three years, Michael Turchin last year, but didn’t come out as gay while the band were together because he feared it would tarnish their success.
He revealed: "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 ‘N Sync, 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."
Instead, the ‘Bye Bye Bye’ hitmaker decided to avoid relationships of any kind before the band decided to take a hiatus in 2002, after which he finally felt he was able to explore his sexuality without jeopardising the careers of bandmates Justin Timberlake, Chris Kirkpatrick, Joey Fatone and JC Chasez.
Speaking in the Love & Marriage issue of Attitude magazine, he said: "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 ‘N Sync album that I felt ready!
"I wasn’t even that sad about the end of ‘N Sync 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."
Lance Bass feared ‘N Sync hate
