Lance Bass: 'People would have hated 'N Sync if I came out whilst in the band'

Lance Bass believes he couldn't have come out whilst in 'N Sync because there would have been a negative reaction.

The singer is openly gay and he married his partner Michael Turchin in 2014.

Speaking in the new issue of Attitude magazine, the US star admits that people would have turned against 'N Sync if he came out whilst in the boyband.

Bass said: "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. I wasn't with a girl, I wasn't with a guy, I just focused on work, and it kept me out of trouble."

He continued: "It wasn't until I realised there wasn't going to be another 'N Sync album that I felt ready!" he said.

"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."

Watch 'N Sync in action below: