Lance Bass Dishes on the Comedy Film He's Making About Dating Danielle Fishel

*NSYNC is, by far, one of the biggest boy bands in the world, and if you were a teenager in the ’90s, we’re certain you had one (or all) of the boys on a poster in your room. The five heartthrobs entered our hearts and homes at such a young age, blossoming from being everyone’s teenage crush to desirable grown men.

Years later, one of those heartthrobs ended up tying the knot with his now husband, Michael Turchin, with whom he is raising two beautiful twins. Of course, with two toddlers around, a busy schedule, and keeping your man happy, we all sometimes need a good mixed cocktail. So, it’s no surprise Bass decided to link up with Smirnoff for their Public Smirnoff Announcement campaign, which is to call on couples to reverse the holiday break-up curse with Smirnoff’s Red, White & Merry.

This December, Bass and his husband Turchin are saying “Bye, Bye, Bye” to bad break-up vibes and appearing in a new PSA (Public Smirnoff Announcement) to share the merry with couples everywhere.

As part of the Public Smirnoff Announcement, Lance and Michael are inviting couples to share their heartwarming stories of how they stayed together during the holiday season on social media. Consumers 21+ are also able to get involved with the campaign by redeeming Drizly code “SMIRNOFF5” for $5 off to celebrate with Red, White & Merry, just in time for the holidays!

In a fun conversation that every gay boy dreams of having, Out contributor Ty Cole was able to speak with Bass about the campaign, a new project he has with friend and ex Danielle Fishel, and if he’s interested in creating a new album with his former group members.

Out: What was it about the Public Smirnoff Announcement that garnered your interest?

Lance Bass: I learned that December 11 happens to be the busiest breakup day of the year so I decided to team up with Smirnoff to do a Public Smirnoff Announcement to reverse that breakup curse and encourage people to be married this season while seeing the joy in everything. The holidays are always a time to find even more love in your relationships with friends and your partner. I love the holidays. Going to see Christmas decorations in the bougie neighborhoods... it bonds my husband and me even more when we can enjoy activities like this and makes you smile while having a little holiday cosmo on top of that.

It’s no secret you dated Danielle Fishel, best known as Topanga from Boy Meets World, back in the days before publicly coming out. Do you both look back at that time and either laugh about it or anything? What’s the relationship like now?

We laugh about it all the time. In the last couple of years, we have gotten closer as we both have podcasts at iHeart, so it’s been fun to collaborate with her and rekindle that friendship. We were boyfriend and girlfriend, but we were also best friends. Something you would probably love... we went to prom together and it was an interesting night from being fun to scary, so we are producing our prom night as a comedy film. It’s been fun to produce this. Mary Holland and Lauren Lapkus are writing it, so it’s going to be super funny, so I’m really excited for it.

You are nailing the trends on Instagram, even getting some of your celebrity friends like Jason Mamoa to participate. How do you ask them to be a part of the trends and participate with you?

A lot of my stuff is spur-of-the-moment stuff because the TikTok sounds hilarious and it’s my favorite platform to just have fun and show your personality. Jason was at my bar at Rocco’s WeHo because he has a water line coming out and he was there so I mentioned we should do something before he left. It was a good time and he loves us gays. Everyone kept looking in the bar like, ‘OMG is that Aquaman?!?’ and he loves the attention so it’s great.

What’s it like connecting to a new generation through social media and are you enjoying this new digital age?

I am enjoying it. I always knew when I was with *NSYNC that you had to keep up with the trends and I never wanted to be like my grandparents who didn’t know how to work an iPhone. I never wanted to be that person where it’s like I’m old and can’t figure it out. I like to jump on the bandwagon and see what they’re playing with because they are the cool ones and we’re not. I want to be protective of my children and see what the kids are doing and what these social trends are all about. It’s interesting how the young generation is into my TikToks and the band, so I don’t know if the kids are stumbling upon it or it’s good parenting, but when I go out in public, it’s these teenagers coming up to me calling me Uncle Lance from TikTok and not even the parents.

What is something Lance Bass is saying “Bye Bye Bye” to this year and leaving behind as we head into 2024?

I’m trying to say ‘bye bye bye’ to as much stress as possible. I work a lot and stress holds me down, so this year, I’m learning to treat myself more, relax more, and take care of myself so I’ll go get that massage, do meditation, and breathe more. It’s amazing what breathing more can do for your psyche.

Joey Fatone shared with Yahoo to never say never when it comes to another album for *NSYNC and said it's a possibility in 2025, but it's up to the members. Would you ever be open to a new *NSYNC album?

I would absolutely say yes. I love those boys and I love this group trying to keep the name alive through my social media and just having fun with it. It would be fun and I never thought it would be an opportunity for us in the future, but participating on the Trolls soundtrack ignited this love of the group again and we would be stupid to not do something in the future, whether it’s an album or a tour or a few songs. The good news is that we’re finally discussing it all and throwing out ideas, seeing what sticks and makes sense so that hopefully we’ll have something in the new year.

Is there anyone you would love to see collaborate with you and the guys on the possible new records?

When it comes to the legends, Reba McEntire would be great because nobody would expect it. I think it would be very natural for us to do something with Dua Lipa or Taylor Swift or Ariana Grande because they are so amazing and our sounds blending together would be so incredible. As for a new artist, someone asked me that the other day and I would love to do something with Tate McRae as she’s the new, now, and next artist. She’s fun and talented and she reminds me of the late ’90s and early 2000s performers. If Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera had a baby, that’s the type of performer she is. We could really come up with a killer dance song.

Your family is growing with two beautiful children. Are you and Michael thinking of maybe adding a third baby into the mix, or are we done?

I am definitely not ready to say ‘bye bye bye’ just yet. I’m trying to convince my husband to at least have one more or adopt one more because I think three would be a perfect number for me. Or four. But I’ll accept two. They are just getting out of diapers and potty training, so he’s like, 'No, not right now.' He’s so tired to think of a third one, but I think I can change his mind at some point.