Boy band icon Lance Bass was a featured speaker at SXSW this year and joined Dave Holmes (Esquire editor) for a live recording of Holmes’ podcast “Homophilia,” a podcast that celebrates LGBT celebrities and pop culture. Co-host Matt McConkey also joined in on the conversation via Skype to ask Bass about everything – his career, his relationships, his hobbies, and personal experiences.
The session opened up with Bass sharing about his experience in NSYNC and how he came to love music. A Mississippi native and lover of country music, Bass shared that it was seeing Garth Brooks live for the first time that made him think, “that’s what I want to do.”
The journey to and through fame was not so easy for Bass, though. Now an open book, Bass dived deep into the difficulties that came with being in a boy band and not yet having come out. After spending years feeling trapped, as if he couldn’t have a voice of his own, Bass finally came out to his friends and family. As many of you may remember, Perez Hilton soon outed him before he officially made the new public. Though Bass would have every right to resent Hilton for this, he looks back and says he “took it with a grain of salt.” It wasn’t Hilton that pushed him to make his coming out public, it was that he was finally comfortable in his own skin and more importantly, he was truly in love.
Holmes joked that his niece was devastated when Lance came out publicly and I chuckled – I was utterly devastated too (Lance was always my favorite).
The conversation transitioned around Bass’ past relationships and current relationship with his husband Michael Turchin. Sharing their whole story, Bass explained they had met at a party and soon became close friends. For months, Bass had no idea Turchin was gay until one fateful day when he kissed him. After that they were inseparable, and after four and a half years of marriage they are now trying for twins through a surrogate.
Now a film and TV show producer, Bass’ main reason for attending SXSW this year was to premiere his newest film, “The Boy Band Con: The Lou Pearlman Story.” As some of you might know, NSYNC’s record deal with Pearlman is known as one of the worst of all time, and Bass felt is was time to let the story to come to surface. Without spilling too much, Bass shared how the development of the film was both an amazing yet tough experience and his hopes for the future. We recently had the chance to sit down and chat with Bass about “The Boy Band Con” – more to come on that topic soon!
For more coverage on SXSW, click here, and be sure to check back in for more interviews, recaps, and photo galleries!
Featured image & photo gallery credit: Leigh Kettle/Shuffle Online
Leigh is a native Texan gone temporary New Yorker and now proud Austinite. Passions include but are not limited to music (both as a spectator and dabbler), traveling & cultural adventures, film & television, true crime, design (of the fashion, interior, and graphic sorts), and photographing & writing about all the aforementioned. Self-acclaimed coffee connoisseur & wino, cat aficionado, book worm, and nature junkie.