Lance Bass Meets World

There’s nothing like young love - especially when one of you is a TV icon, and the other is in the biggest boy band of the ‘90s. 

We're welcoming Danielle’s ex-bf, NSYNC’s Lance Bass, to relive their relationship and a very “special” Prom night. You read that right, they went to Prom together with matching teased hair. They dated for a year and she thought it was ‘gonna be her’ until (spoiler alert) he said Bye Bye Bye via telephone (mostly likely a flip phone). 

And now - they’re still close friends - and (EXCLUSIVE!) turning that Prom into a movie. Put on a tux and boutonnière, because you don’t want to miss this reunion!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:25):
I can hear him, I can hear Lance, I can
hear lady. What is the shirt? Uh? This is my
I wish I was still on vacation shirt. Oh man,
it's really great. Tell me about your vacation, because I
saw a couple of pictures. Where were you? What have
you been doing? Well? We went to Florida, Miami. We

(00:47):
took the kids so they could stay with grandma, and
then I took my family to Cayman Island, which was awesome.
Never been um, and so that was really nice. But
then we just got back from Italy. We had a
wedding and Sorrento awesome. And so how long were the
kids in Florida with grandparents? Um? For five days? And

(01:10):
of course the five days that we're in Cayman that's
when they started taking their first crawl. Like, really, you
choose these few days? Do you do? You have twins?
I do? Yeah, I have a word. That's so great.
At the same time, it was crazy because you know,

(01:34):
she was sitting up for a while, he wasn't doing anything,
and then finally shod one little crawl, and then probably
twelve hours later he was crawling because he's like, nope,
I am not falling by Oh my god. Well, now
you're entering the whole new stage, which is terrifying. I know.
I remember being so excited for my son to crawl

(01:54):
because it was like progress, you know, something new, and
then entering the new stage, which was horrifying, which is
suddenly everything on the ground is something they can put
in their mouths and something that's going to kill them.
And I was like constantly aware of, like that little toy,
we gotta clean that up, we gotta pick that up,
or they're gonna put that in their mouth. It's babies
always have the first thing to do is want to

(02:14):
eat it. Yes, if it's a door knob survival man,
they gotta keep you every week. You are all just
selling this parenthood thing. I can't wait to start. This
sounds amazing. Wow, I do. I do want to properly
introduce our guest, but I should also properly introduce our show.

(02:35):
Welcome to Pod Meets World. I'm Danielle Fischel, I'm right
or Strong, and I'm Wilfredell, and I'm so excited about
our guest today. You know who he is because he
was in the nineties most popular boy band and yes,
I said it. Yes, I'm I'm sticking with it. There
is no argument. But in SYC is the most popular

(02:56):
boy band. I would I would throw it down. Uh.
And I know him better as being truly my first
real love and his name is Lance Bass. Welcome to
the podcast. Thanks for having me, guys. I'm so excited
I've been listening to your shows. It is brought back
so many great memories. I actually I do you visited

(03:16):
our set a couple of times? Do you have any
specific memories of of being on set? Uh? You know,
I was just like really cool, you know I was.
I was so intimidated because you know, that's a whole
different world from the music industry, So being on a
set for the first time was your set um. Just
seeing how everything moved was incredible. Um. And I was

(03:38):
also kind of jealous because y'all really had so much
fun with what y'all did too, So I was like, God,
this would be such a fun show to be part of.
I mean, I didn't ever get the vibe that the
instinct guys weren't having fun. Well but no, wait, am
I remembering correctly that you guys came for a special

(03:58):
that that was where everybody first met and I actually
wasn't there. Right, we did that live t G I
F show thing. Yeah, roically it was t G I
F UM, which I was super excited to, you know,
meet everyone. I think Mary Kay and Ashley just premier
their show that night. Also, Uh it was Yeah, it
was a good time. But I was so nervous to

(04:20):
meet this one right here, Danielle, because you know I
have the biggest crush on her. Wait. I actually we've
we've been talking a lot about our our story because
um podcast exclusive. Lance and I are actually working on
a movie about our love story and about our our
prom experience. For those who don't know, I dated Lance

(04:42):
for a year about a year um while I was
on Boy Meets World, and it was my senior year,
and Lance came with me to my high school prom,
my Calabasa's high school prom. He was my date. And
in the talking about this and us working on the
movie which Lauren Laptus and Mary Hollander writing It's he's
mentioned that he had a crush on me, which I did.

(05:02):
I truthfully did not know going into meeting Lance. So
the way this t G I F thing was happening
is basically we were doing like a live night. The shows.
Of course we're already taped and those were those were
going to just be played on the air the way
they normally would, but in between the shows, they were
going live to this cool spot where they were we
were gonna someone was gonna be hosting it. That person

(05:24):
was kind of me, and they wanted to have a
popular band play. And I remember people from ABC coming
to me and saying, Okay, Danielle as one of the only,
you know, only girls on this show. Who do you
who would you love to see? And they kind of
presented me the option, would you like Backstreet Boys are
in Sync? And I was like, definitely get in sync?

(05:45):
And they did, and then I was so and then
so I was the reason they were like, all right,
we'll go after in sync. And then they asked in
Sync to do it, and Lance and Justin, Joey and
Chris and j C all showed up and it was
this like big buzzing night and and I got to
kind of host it and talk to them and interview
them and and we did these little interstitials in between

(06:06):
the shows. So that's the night we met. So did
you watch Boy Meets World, Lance, I've seen a few
episodes for sure, because again, I mean I had a
crush on you and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. So Sarah
Michelle Galler, yes, you know what that you know what
I remember about that night of the T G I
F Live show. I remember you all coming out with

(06:29):
your band and you kept rehearsing the same song, and
by the third time, right before the song started, you
at all, right, here's the song again, Sorry this song started.
Imagine how many times we've had to do that before
the Remember that night, I mean the only thing that

(06:50):
I was in my mind that night was to try
to get your number, Like I didn't know how I
was going to get go. I need to get her
numbers somehow. So yeah, well, and the way he got
my phone number that night, This whole, my whole meeting
with Lance was very much like it felt like the
It felt like a movie, which is part of the
reason why we're going to turn it into a movie.
But I remember all night talking to them, And again,

(07:13):
when you're a kid, you kind of get sectioned off
based on how old you are, you know, like you
gravitate to the people that are the same age as you.
And Lance and Justin were the two youngest, and I
was one of the youngest of all of the people
that were there, and so Lance and Justin and I
spent the most amount of time talking to each other.
And I remember thinking like, I wonder if you know

(07:35):
this is going well with Lance. I wonder if he's
going to try to get my number at the end
of this, or I wonder what's going to happen, like
having that that buzz that you get when you have
a crush on somebody new, and you're like, I wonder
what this is going to turn into. And you also
know time is limited because like when this is over,
they're getting on a bus and they're driving away, and
I have no idea if I'm ever going to see
these people again. And at the end of the night, uh,

(07:57):
you know, they're off they run off stage and they
have to run to go. It changed, and I remember
like I could technically leave, like I didn't have to
be there anymore. I could get in my car and go,
but I was like kind of waiting around to see
what would happen. When Lance came out from the back,
and I remember Lance and Justin everybody kind of coming
out and saying goodbye, and we hugged goodbye, and they

(08:19):
got all the way to the bus, and I watched
him walk onto the bus and I started to turn around.
The bus started to take off, and I started walking
to my car, and then all of a sudden, I
heard Danielle and I stopped and I turned around and
it was Justin. Justin comes running up to me and
he goes, Danielle, I need to get your number, and
I was like, what anyway, goes It's for Lance, And

(08:43):
I said, oh, yeah, okay, and I gave him my
phone number and he ran back onto the bus, and
sure enough, like a couple of days later, I had
a missed call and a voicemail from Lance and it
was Lance, but Justin also screaming in the background about
how nervous Lance was to be calling me to write

(09:06):
what I was going to say on your voice and
it was too cheesy. Now, wow, it was. It was
so it was great. I'd watch that movie. Yeah it was.
It was really great. And then it started like a
whole year of us just talking on the phone and

(09:28):
Lance was always in some place new and and that
Christmas I went to Mississippi and spent time with his family,
and um, I got to meet Yeah, I got to
meet his entire family there. And then that following year
there were during our hiatus weeks I would I would
go on tour with them for a couple of days
at a time. I'd pop on the bus and traveled

(09:49):
with them a little bit. And then he went to
my high school prom with me, and then he broke
up with me girlfriend, well, Danielle raw Chris's girlfriend at
the time. We moved in together. So I met Danielle,
who was dating Chris Kirkpatrick at the time, and we
right away kind of hit it off. I mean when

(10:11):
I first met her, I was like, she's a lot,
she's a big personality. And her name was also Danielle.
And so I remember like meeting the rest of the
guys as now Lance's girlfriend and being a little intimidated,
and I remember Danielle being like, what, there's another Danielle.
I'm the only Danielle. And I remember just being like,
I just please, please don't run over me. Um. But

(10:34):
we very quickly bonded. And then when I moved out
of my parents house, like right after I turned eighteen,
I moved in with Danielle So, Um, I was living
with another in synct girlfriend and then that may or June,
Lance and I went to prom and then he broke
up with me, and I was devastated. And I still
had to live in a house with another girl who

(10:55):
was still dating and it was all still just like
in my world. I had to know what they were
doing and what they were up to. There was no
escaping knowing what this. I mean. I really thought I
thought I was going to marry Lance. I had envisioned
our future and um, and then when he broke up
with me, I was like, I couldn't escape it, and

(11:16):
I kept I held on to hope for way too
long that Lance and I were going to get back
together and get married and have a family. And curiously, Lance,
why did you break up with her? She knows what
she did. It turns out I'm not Lances type like

(11:36):
other things. Um. Yeah, no, it's just it's so crazy
and the reason that we wanted to make this prom
story into a film, Um, I think so many people
can relate to that story where I think so many
people in the LGBT community their prom night was the
night that they're like, oh wait a minute, like this,
this can't happen anymore, can do this anymore? And so

(11:59):
that was was the catalyst for me that that made
me start to accept myself, which took a long time
after that, but that was definitely the first little you know,
straw that broke. Yeah, so I want to go back

(12:22):
to when you would come to set to visit, because
you were actually only I think you were only able
to visit once or twice. But I remember, I remember
specifically one of the weeks you were able to come
to visit was the week we were filming Korean to
Penga's wedding, because I remember being around you in my
at least veil, if not the wedding dress, and thinking like,

(12:42):
I wonder what my wedding dress will look like when
Lance and I are getting married. Wow, it didn't creep
me out at all. No pressure from with me in
my wedding dress. Wow. I don't think you were. You
wouldn't wear the wedding dress in front of me, though,
that was bad luck exactly didn't want you to see

(13:03):
me exactly. No, I don't think I was. I wasn't
very I wasn't vocally expressing these things. These were just
things that were swirling around around in my teenage mind.
But I wasn't like I wasn't scaring him. I was
I was trying to play it. You didn't think you
were scaring him. I definitely scared him, that's for sure.

(13:23):
I remember another time you you visited it, you and
you and Justin visited and we had something to do
with the premature baby. Remember the whole storyline where they're
like it was so we on rehearsal days, we just
had this fake baby there, and of course, me being me,
I would pick it up and do different voices with it,
and like I stick cigarettes in its mouth like it was.

(13:44):
It was so disturbing, it was, And I remember at
one point you looked at me and you went, what
is wrong with you? Because it was just so really
It's like what I do is like what there's a
prop here and I'm playing with it. But it was
just like this look of this horrified look, like what
is your problem? Like what nothing? This is just me
Like yeah, that's right. It would have been around the

(14:05):
time that we were filming that that storyline too. Okay,
here's the question I want to know, maybe other people
want to know to you guys did a guest appearance
all of you on Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Right, Yes,
I get that. In zoo Land R I probably get
the most of my career. You did Sabrina. Why did
you do Sabrina and not Boy Meets World from I

(14:27):
don't know. Maybe they didn't want us to work together.
I have no idea. Sabrina was the higher rated Showa, right,
was the hit show of t J I F at
the time. We were the also rans at that point.
It was also I bet you a network note because
we had so many boys on our show. Because they
tried to launch the girl band on our show. Do
you remember that, that's right? Right? So they that Nobody's

(14:49):
Angel was the name of the band or something something angel. Yeah, yeah,
something like that. Yet Nobody's Angel or not an angel
or something. But they where of course the episode is
Sean is in a random diet truck stop, and of
course there's a girl band. Um, so it was they tried.
I think it probably had something to do with that,
where it was like, let's there's a lot of boys

(15:10):
on Boy Me to World, Let's put the end sync
guys on the more female driven show and put the
girl band on the more boy driven show to see
which shows would want like the whole group to do something.
I think it was a Touch by an Angel. We
did that. We were homeless guys, but you know, a
homeless boy band really with Charlotte Church, I think she

(15:35):
was also homeless. Wow. Uh yeah, we did Clueless. I
don't know why we were on that show. And Sabrina
think it was her birthday. Yeah, yeah, I think Melissa
Joan Hart requested you guys. I think she and you're
right writer that they had a much more successful show.
And so if you were going to get booked on
a t g I F show, you want to go
on the one that everybody's watching. Oh I'm gonna find

(15:56):
that Touch by an Angel? Oh man? All right. So
so my story of you guys visiting the set, I
have this very clear memory. You guys came during an episode,
the one episode direct directed by Mickey Dolan's of the Monkeys,
and I remember us having a conversation. Uh. We were

(16:18):
sitting by the craft service and I was talking to
Justin and we were I was asking about you know,
what you guys were doing, and he said, yeah, well,
you know they've talked about us doing a TV show
as a band, but I don't. I don't think we're
gonna do it. I think that's not a good idea.
And Mickey Dolans was right behind him, eating a craft service,

(16:39):
and I remember Mickey Dolan's interrupting our conversation snacking on
something and going why not, why wouldn't you do that?
And I watched justin look back realized who it was.
I have to backpedal desperately. Well, you know, we're just
not really like acting is not really are were not
really that might because it was just trash talking. The
very idea of like a band being in a TV

(17:01):
show like that would just be stupid. It was one
of the and I remember him realizing it, me realizing it,
all of us just having to be like, don't, don't, don't,
don't insult Nicky, don't don't make him feel bad. Well, yes,
because for listeners who don't know the Monkeys had a
TV show, that's the kind of that was there, That's
how they started. Yeah, oh my gosh, that is so funny.

(17:24):
What are the odds that they would be there during
that week that because Mickey Dolan's only directed that one episode. Yeah,
he was in a bunch of episodes, but was when
he was directing, and it was the with the b
It was one of the worst episodes. Yeah, yeah, everyone
was h you all have a favorite episode you'll done
together that you'll always talk like, oh my gosh, that

(17:45):
was like the best episode we ever did. Well. We
always mentioned the Scream episode because it was the first
time really all of us got to be in in
a lot of scenes together. Because there was Will has
mentioned many times, there's all ways that there's like the
two boy meets Worlds. There was like the storyline that
was Eric heavy and and his whole storyline, and then

(18:06):
there was like Corey Shawn and Tupanga and Angela and
in a separate storyline, and so we very rarely all
got to work together. And that Scream episode was one
of the most fun for us because it was just
fun behind the scenes. And then individually, we all have
favorite episodes because they mean something to us personally. But
I think as we go along, we're going to be

(18:27):
surprised by how many more memories come up and other
like new favorite episodes. This episode where nobody's angels, uh,
I remember they were, It's just it was one of
those such those storylines where it's like, of course you
encounter a girl band in a stage at this time.
One of the one of the truckers in the truck

(18:48):
stop was played by Um, an actor named Mickey. What
was his Mickey Mickey. Uh, he's great Mickey. Um. He's
a musician and an actor. And he was great musician.
He was a drummer for Bob Dylan for the tour
that Dylan went Electric, And so I remember not only
hanging out with the Nobody's Angels girls, but also hanging

(19:10):
out with him and just seeking out about rock music.
And he had so many good stories because he had
been sober throughout the entire sixties and seventies when he
played with all these legendary bands. But yeah, he was
in the original like the band what became the band.
He was Mickey Jones. Mickey Jones. He's a great character actor.
But yeah, everyone will know him immediately if you look
him up. But yeah, so he passed. I'm sorry to

(19:31):
tell you he passed away in at seventy six. He
was in the Tin Cup with UM, with Kevin Costner
and Uh, he was a great guy and a very
good musician. Um Yeah, that's that's well, not to bring
down the whole room. There we go the pandemics. That's positive.
Say you're always looking for the positive side of stuff. Lance,

(19:53):
I love that. Um so Lance, can we talked a
little bit about I found this picture that I just
I didn't know if writer or Will had ever seen
one of our prom pictures. But this is our from
one of our prom pictures that my mom took. Its perfect,
and so yeah, we'll post that picture on our No,

(20:17):
you are actually touching me. I can't believe it. The
one that the one that everyone knows. He's got his
hand just hovering over my back. He's not actually touching me.
It's really great. Yeah, he's like he's like he's as
close to me as he can get without actually room.
For Jesus, um was how many did you go to

(20:42):
many school dances? Like? Did you get to go to
any of your own school dances or did in sync
kind of make that impossible? Yeah? I mean I went
to dances, you know, like junior high and I think
my freshman and sophomore years of high school, I got
to go to homecoming, but I never got to go
to my prom, which would have been so much fun,
so that I was so excited to go to your
problem because that was that was basically my problem too,

(21:05):
or I didn't know anyone, but yeah it was, you
know it was you guys must have been rock stars
at that problem. Was it a big deal where people
like freaking out and taking photos and asking for autographs
or what was it? Like? It was kind of like that.
And I'll actually let Lance answer it from his experience,
because I remember actually being like I was mortified because
I should have thought through it better that like bringing

(21:28):
him high school. Yeah, it was my high school, and
I was no big deal at my high school. Like
it was just not everyone has everyone. We were all
the same students that I went to junior high school
with and now I was all the same kids in
high school, and like, so they were with me through
all six seven years of boy Meat's world. It wasn't
like a big deal, and so in my mind when
I was bringing Lance, it was just going to be
another kind of not a big deal, Like it didn't

(21:51):
register to me that, of course bringing Lance was going
to be a massive story in the school. And so
the night of prom, I remember feeling really bad for
him because it did it turned into basically like, you know,
we went to a pre Yeah, we went to a
pre prom prom party the way you do. We go
to somebody's house and everybody, you know, mothers are They're
taking pictures of kids, and it's like a big group.

(22:13):
Except the one we went to was like they had
called all the entire neighborhood over and it wasn't just
you know, one parent there, it was like every parent.
And I remember feeling really bad, so I'll let Lance
to I actually don't know. I think I've had like
cringe anxiety over just even asking him what he remembers
about that part. Lance, What was that experience like for you?
It was the perfect nineties Disney Channel movie My Date

(22:38):
with Lance Bass. That's what it felt like. You know,
I felt like I was playing a character. It's like,
you know, Chase Smith from Blah blah blah comes in town.
But yeah, it was. It was fun. I had to
you know, got a kick out of for sure, because
one I hadn't been to a prom, so I was
excited to see what prom was all about. We did
all those you know, typical prom things, but of course,

(23:00):
in the back of my mind, the whole entire night.
Is what's going to happen when we go to the
hotel after this? Because I know what happened Prom night
at the hotel? Yeah, and because Landson I had a
were very wonderful, very warm, loving relationship, but it was
completely lacking of intimacy. Intimacy in the romantic sense. Um,
we were we shared, you know, all of our feelings,

(23:23):
and we shared family stuff, and we were very intimate emotionally,
but we were not physically intimate. And so Prom night
we were really So you guys had booked a hotel room.
Is that totally typical? I know we did an episode
of World that's kind I think the majority of girls
in high school lose their virginity. Yes, that seems so

(23:45):
formulaic and pressure filled and awful. Oh yeah, it's usually
like it's for some reason, it's the first night maybe
that your parents ever let you spend the night out,
like kind of as adults, you're graduating high school, you're
maybe you're already eighteen or close to eighteen, and so
it's very stereotypical that you you know, get a limo

(24:06):
or whatever the car is it's taking you to prom
and then after Prom everybody goes back to like the
same hotel, and everybody has their own hotel rooms. And
so Lance and I had a hotel room booked, and
you know, I had a vision for what that night
was going to be, and Lance was very nervous about

(24:26):
what my vision for that night was going to be.
And so, yeah, that is really the night Lance talks
about as being like a thing where he you know,
he felt like he was hurting me by not being
honest to himself or with anyone else about um, you know,
what was going on in his life. And so it
was kind of the impetus for him to say, I'm
going to end our relationship. And sure enough, maybe within

(24:47):
two weeks of prom um, Lance called me and he
just said, I just I don't think this is working,
you know, the distance, and and it was, you know, yeah,
it's just too hard. I never get to see you.
When I do, it's just for short you know times.
And and here I mostly had been thinking we were
making it work really well. It was you know, it

(25:07):
was an answer that you give somebody when you don't
really want to tell them the real reason why you're
breaking up with them. And it didn't feel real to me,
and so I felt like there was something I was missing,
like is there somebody else? Um? And yeah, I was devastated,
and I remember calling my mom. My mom was the
first person I called, and I told her, you know,
what was going on in my parents loved Lance. Lance
came when when Lance and I first started dating, which meant,

(25:29):
you know, talking on the phone incessantly when we first
met Um and then Lance had some I don't remember
if they had if you had work in l A.
I think you had time off and you said for
my time off, I'd love to come to l A
and spend it with you. And I said, okay, great,
And so I told my mom that Lance wanted to
do that, and at first she was like, okay, well
he needs to stay in a hotel. He can't stay here,
and I said, okay, you know that's not a problem.

(25:50):
And then I think the next day she said to me,
you know, your dad and I talked about it, and
we we've actually changed our minds as long as I
know we can trust you, and we can trust Lance
that he will stay in his bedroom and you will
stay in your bedroom. Lance spends so much of his
time on the road. He's constantly in hotels. We don't
want him to feel like he's just in another city
on tour. We want him to feel like he's welcome

(26:11):
in our family. So he's we'd like for him to
stay with us, and so I was really excited. So
Lance came and stayed with my family for like four
or five days. And yes, there were house rules, and
your bedroom was downstairs and my bedroom was upstairs. And
during that during that week we went to our first
real day out was to go to a Celine Dion
concert Wow, and we went horseback riding and Lance wore

(26:38):
a collared shirt that had a leopard print caller at
the nineties fashion. It was great and I have so
many great pictures of us. But so my family loved Lance,
and um, when Lance broke up with me and then
called my mom and I told her I was in hysterics,
and my mom said, Danielle, you know, can I can
I just ask you a question? And I said, you

(26:58):
know sure? And she said, so you've been with Lance
for almost a year and I said yes, And she said,
you know, do you think there's any possibility that Lance
might be gay? And I said, no, gosh, Mom, just
because he doesn't like me, doesn't mean he's gay. It
was like to me, I thought she was just trying

(27:19):
to make me feel better, like, you know, like, no, Danielle,
maybe it's because he doesn't like anyone not. And I
just thought, oh my gosh, everybody's trying to make me
feel better. No, mom, that's not it. And then I
hung up the phone from her, and I was a
little bit like, I wonder maybe, but it still didn't
like really land until Lance told me himself, which was

(27:42):
do you remember what year that was? Lance? It would
have I mean, I know it was that your Halloween party.
Lance and I stayed friends. Obviously we're still Actually that
had to be or two thousand, Yeah, well yeah, I
think it may have been October of two thousand. It
was like a full year later. I have a question, Lance,
you broke up with her, had you told yourself yet

(28:02):
that you were gay? Not really like I knew, it's
just something that I just didn't want to think about. Um,
But I had realized that yes, I wasn't into girls.
But it was also in my head that there's no
way I would ever act on being gay, like you know,
it's just like this will just not be a part
of my life. Yeah, you trick yourself into thinking that

(28:23):
you're just always going to be in the closet, that
you will meet someone that you can have a relationship with,
and you live that lie like so many people have to. Yeah, yikes. Yeah, man,
what a time because you know, I also I was
thinking about it that even for me when because other
people said to me, you know, Danielle Lance is gay

(28:44):
before Lance did, and and we're really trying to tell me,
like you know, if you can't see it, that's what's
going on. And I just it was such a thing
back then, like you know, Lance was so private about
it and other people were they were you were forced
to be in the Is it that even for me
someone to say to me like, well, what you know,
it's actually that he's gay, It was like, well, no,

(29:05):
that's not possible because it wasn't as accepted, it wasn't
as common. It just felt like everyone's just saying that
to make it think it's not me. Um, so yeah,
I mean, what a what a absolutely crazy time. And
I can't even three year Yeah, but the nineties were

(29:26):
also like there was It's so funny because the same
way we all know every like we've all run into
all the different actors of all the different nineties shows
that we were either at ABC events together, or we
were on red carpets together, or we did crossover shows
the same way, Like all the nineties actors kind of
know each other. It is very much the same in

(29:47):
the pop community. All the boy bands, all the pop
artists know each other. And because of my time that
I spent with Lance, I also know all of the
boy bands and all of the pop artists from time.
And some of my favorite stories, Like one of my
favorite stories is when I was going to do MTV
spring Break in Cancoon and Lanson and Sank We're also

(30:10):
there to do spring Break, and Lance and I were
trying to coordinate it so that I, like he was
going to be there for one day and I wasn't
supposed to be working there until like the next day.
But if I went early, we could probably he had
a day off, so we could spend actually like two
or three days in Cancoon together and then both work
and then he'd leave to go to whatever he was
doing next, and I would stay and do my work
and then go home. And so we did. I flew

(30:31):
out there early to be with Lance, and they ended
up filming what they needed to film early and decided
to take their extra days off and they were going
to go do like another show somewhere else. And so
then I was suddenly in Cancoon alone, and you know,
I was like seventeen years old, and Lance was like,
don't worry about it. The ninety degrees guys are here.
Let me introduce you to the ninety degrees guys. And
sure enough. I then I then just hung. I was

(30:54):
then just a part of the ninety eight degrees for
those two days, and they were so kind and took
such good air of me, and uh yeah, so like
point one, Yeah, I love Did we do spring breaking CaCO? Yes,
that's the that's the time I'm talking about time. Oh,

(31:14):
that's right, we did it. I thought that was a vacation.
I guess it wasn't a vacation. Well, you were supposed
to have time, you were supposed to have time off.
And then it ended up being, you know, their schedule
would always change. They'd have like a day to do something,
and then it'd be like, you know what, we're actually
gonna fit in some work and they're gonna fly him
over here, and um and so he very rarely had
time off. But anyway, I love thinking about those times.
Like whenever we run into somebody, my husband's always like,

(31:36):
how do you know them? And I'm like, oh, of course,
what do you mean? Of course I know LFO, of
course I know the nine degrees guys, Like we were
all a big family and there's they're all they're all
amazing people, Like they all have great personalities, they're all
incredibly sweet, and there's like not insane competition. They're all
really supportive and helpful of each other. It's really very nice. Well,
we see them at the conventions. They always hang out

(31:58):
and my favorite, So I've become friends with Joey, but
every time I see him, I just turned around and
I just hear what's up? So that's that's just that's
just his universal greeting for me, every single time, so
one bit since the day I met him, he is
the most consistent person. Now, wait, Lance, I have one

(32:21):
quick question for you, because in the music industry, I
know that like even back in the day, like Andy Gibb,
who was the biggest thing in the world, was married,
but they had to keep it hushed up. Was it
the kind of thing where you were not allowed to
talk about that you were dating. You were like always
supposed to be quote unquote available to all the fans.
Was that a thing still? It was? Yeah at that time,
that was definitely the message I was getting, um from

(32:44):
Lou Prom and my management, the record label. Um, they
would disguise it in a way if they knew that
I was gay, they wouldn't say, hey, if you're gay,
don't come you know whatever, but they would always disguise like, well,
you know, people look up to you, so you can't
have a cigarette in your hand, you can't be seen
with a dream, can be seen with a girlfriend. Um,
so you know, they were kind of laying down the
law for us. So I knew being out gay was

(33:06):
definitely not you know, going to be a boy. Yeah,
if a cigarette was going to do it, yeah, from
smoking cigarettes a smoking pole is not. Remember then the
conversation because it was a big deal for me when
Lance kind of quote unquote announced our relationship on Jay

(33:31):
Leno right, Oh? Is that where it was? It was
it was Leno and it was Um, you knew the
question was coming and the conversation had happened with Johnny
and the decision was made that you were going to
say that, yes, I was your girlfriend. And do you
remember was that conversate was I was I allowed to

(33:51):
be your girlfriend at that time? Because it was kind
of hard to deny that something was going on between
us because I was also recognizable. So like, is that
what happened? Yeah, because I mean the fans knew. You
know what, remember when Justin and Brittany first started dating.
You know, it's like the fans know, and then at
some point you can't insult their intelligence anymore, and you
can't just pretend to pretend. So at some point you

(34:14):
have to, you know, come clean. And it was just
the time, because you know, I knew this was gonna last.
It was this was the one, This was the one. Yeah.
So I remember that conversation because I remember it was
actually one of the first times that I met the
other guy's girlfriends backstage. And I remember feeling a little
guilty too, because I knew that that conversation, that that

(34:35):
question was going to come up, and that Lance was
going to be allowed to say that yes, I was
his girlfriend, and um, and yet all of the other
girlfriends were backstage and we're not allowed to be talked about.
And then remember the Dry Myself a Crazy video. You know,
I originally wanted you to play my love interest in
that because all the other guys, all the other girlfriends
didn't get to be in the in the video. Remember,

(34:58):
it was a big deal, like should you do it
or not? And then we went with like, no, it
would cause too much of a controversy or something. I
don't know it was. I think it was they didn't
want again, they didn't want now my recognizability to take
people out of the emotion of watching the video, like
because the I don't know, I do remember. I remember
it being a big back and forth about whether or
not and I was so bummed. I was there and

(35:19):
watching everybody film it and I was like just taking
pictures of everyone and I wasn't I didn't get to
play Lance's girlfriend in the video, but all the other
guy's girlfriends videos. You think of emotions, you know, that's
take that out of all of our music video always
very deep. There's so much image management going on. It's crazy.

(35:40):
I mean, like, I feel very lucky in a lot
of ways. Actor. We did not mean yeah, no, not
to that to that extent. I mean it really wasn't
so much easier back then because you know, you could
stay hidden. There was no social media, no one had
a camera, and so whatever story you told the public,
they just had to believe, you know, unless someone you know,
printed some stupid thing. Uh, there was no proof. Now

(36:05):
you got proof every step of the way, so you
can't hide yourself. So I think that's why so many
people are able to come out sooner and you know,
and live their real life because authenticity is key and
everyone can see right through it. Yeah, yeah, you're right.
Now there's so many more opportunities for people to call
you out for being in authentic, whereas back then everything

(36:25):
was very controlled. You had your public appearance and then
you left, and the only people who really got to
see you in those public appearances were the people that
were at the concert. Like I remember going to in
scene concerts and for a while I was wearing a wig,
like I would wear a short wig so that people
wouldn't recognize that it was me there to see Lance.
And then it was like, well, it's only these people
in this arena who are going to know. They're not
going on Twitter to say that they saw me there,

(36:47):
And yeah, it was it was. I mean, the image
management was just insane. Now, limfa have a like fictitious
world question. So if you guys had to go on
the road now as in sync, but you were going

(37:09):
to have somebody fill in for justin kind of like
the way John Mayer is now in The Grateful Dead.
Who who do you think you would choose to be
in that role? Oh? I know exactly who would be?
Is really great with harmonies. Know a lot of people
don't know that. He kind of came from his college
he studied music and amazing with harmonies. Darren Chris. I've

(37:33):
known Darren for years. He's a great guy, a great guy.
Darren is a great guy. He loves boy bands, He's
done that like that. He would just be perfect fit
with us. Yeah, oh that's a great one. Again. Can
I make a suggestion somebody I'd like to see T Pain?
T Pain? Yes, okay, I want T Pain to go

(37:54):
on the road within Sync. I mean that would be
I mean, I'm down, I'm so dad. Okay, you know,
I don't know. Is he good with harmonies? You know,
I don't know. I'll ask you. I don't know. Let
me let me, let me just ask people don't have
this anymore. So yeah, I guess it doesn't matter. So

(38:16):
I mean, okay, now Lance is married, happily married to Michael.
Please tell me a little bit about your husband. Your babies.
You guys are dads to two twins. How old are they? Now?
Give give us a little background on your personal life.
So they were born October thirteen, so they're coming up
on ten months now. And I mean, how quickly this goes.

(38:38):
Everyone says it like it will fly by, and it
has gone so quickly. Like I said, the days are long,
but the days are long, but the nights are like
like um, and thank god they sleep throughout the night.
Now that is the best thing ever. Um. But yeah,
they've just been incredible. We've had such sweet little babies.

(38:58):
They let us sleep. Uh. They don't make too much noise,
which is nice. They're quiet babies. They they're wearing the
adorable head shaped helmets currently, aren't they? They are. They
have two more weeks with their little helmets. Um, and
they have decals on like my son's has Marvel all
over it. And then my girl probably just got done yesterday.
She has two weeks left in and they just got done.

(39:20):
But she's like an Amelia Earhart. Oh and here's this
is Alexander. Oh wow, now hi buddy. So Lance's kids
are about like almost exactly a month younger than my

(39:40):
baby Keaton. And we went to Lance's house, Lance and
Michael's house for a Memorial Day barbecue and I got
to hold the babies. And I have a picture of
me holding Alexander in one arm and holding Keaton in
the other. And Alexander, a month younger than Keaton, is
easily twice the size of Keaton. Cut. I have no

(40:01):
idea why Keaton is so small, Like wait, wise, he's
in like the eighth percentile or something, and Alexander is
just sitting next to him. He's got these gorgeous thick,
chunky little thighs, and Keaton's like it is he is
a big boy. And his sister has like the little
hand and little's feet and he's just has his huge

(40:23):
football player hands. Yeah, they're so sweet, but it was
really fun to have It's like Simon about him. I
just like he looks Simone to me. So I think
he's going to be a very like rock solid, a
solid kid. Yeah, wait till, like writer said, wait till
they start like pulling up and walking. Uh. Keaton is

(40:45):
about to start walking. He has been, Um, he's been
using his walker and running around the house with his walker,
and I think any day now he's going to let
go of that thing and just take off. And um
now I'm I'm looking at this gorgeous table behind you
and it looks very sharp and pointy and like you
have beautiful things on it. There's all these bumpers over
see put the bumpers on flat bumpers, and they don't

(41:09):
they're not allowed to go into this room because it's
a very hazardous. My My whole house is very angular,
death traps everywhere exactly. It's the point we had the
baby proofers come over and about five days ago, and
so of the whole house is great baby proof, but
they're like stuck in this certain area. Um, this new

(41:31):
room that we built we thought was going to be
just a part of our living room. No, it's now
the kid's room and the baby room. Yeah, that's what happens. Yep.
Every area starts to get taken over and they're expensive
and you don't sleep selling it. It's great. Yeah, don't
you want some? Oh man, well, Will's daughter stepdaughter is

(41:53):
um is getting married. So getting married. Yeah, she's talk
about it going fast. I always tell I always tell
people being a parents the easiest thing in the world.
My kid came with her own apartment in a four
oh one k. I mean, come on, simple, simple being
a parent. Well, what do you have going on work wise?
Where like what I know you are? You have a

(42:14):
whole production empire, you're producing things. You are just you
have a Rockos nightclub, um tell us, and you guys
do nineties nights right Well, on Fridays we do our
Flashback Friday, so we bring in the nineties two thousands
of music, which is so fun, especially for people our
generation that miss going out and actually dancing on a

(42:34):
dance floor. That's what we wanted to recreate and it's
been great. I want to I want to pitch to
you my idea that I had the other day. I
want to do. I want to do a parents night,
but a parents night for parents like me, which is
I am not cool enough to stay up until ten
or eleven o'clock to go to a club. What if
we did a nightclub from like six to ten, okay

(42:57):
six pm? You have ur Dervs you play great music,
the music we want to hear, but also you throw
in the songs that the kids are super into, like
for example, Adler's just recently really got into zombies, and
so I'm listening to Zombies Disney Channel music all the
time and I love it even when there's not in
the car. The music is incredible. Are you kidding me?

(43:19):
With the song Bam? That song is a bop? I
want to hear the nineties music from my time, but
from the hours of six pm to ten pm with
a little bit of my kids music that I actually
like and enjoy, so thrown in. It's a dusk club,
night club, correct, thank you very much. I like it.
I think seven to tend is probably going to be more.

(43:42):
I think that's great because the club don't even get
started going to So that's what I said. You guys
are having wasted hours, But for for people like me,
I want to be able like I can go to
I can go to the dusk club from seven to
nine and still be asleep by ten pm. But I've
had a great time. I've danced, I've listened to the
stuff I really like. So anyway back the kid I
was gonna say you throw it on me bad cheeseburger

(44:03):
and fries for Danielle and she's just mentioned her greatest
night ever. Anyway, you know, some of us didn't even
get to go to proms, so you guys still had
an awesome problem. I couldn't. I was home. I just
couldn't get a date. So I literally didn't go to
my problem dances. That is true. Well, we didn't have

(44:27):
dances and I went to you know, tiny, tiny square graduates.
So yeah, no, we didn't have a prom at all.
But I did go to eighth grade dances like seventh
and eighth grade. Um, I did go to dances in
the local public school because I had a girlfriend who
went to those, so I went to those. Those were
the best. That was kind of enough for Yeah, Stairway

(44:48):
to Heaven would start and it would be this great
slow dance until the fast part of the song started.
Then you didn't know what to do. So Heaven that's
like seventies. No, I'm trying to say what it was.
It was like would have been. Remember it always went
in with more than words. That's more down the club,
my friend extreme could close down to dance absolutely, yeah,

(45:11):
or everything I do, I do it for you. Yeah,
that was more of the early nineties. Still started to Heaven.
They played Atan's played It still played at school dances
all the time. It's like the quintessential dance song. And
then it's like the guitar starts and you're like, no,
I don't know what to do. In Connecticut where they're
still using facts, are we doing this again? We're doing
this again. By the way, I want to take this
moment to thank Lance for coming up with the pod

(45:33):
Meats World idea. Man. Um, We're so happy he came
up with this idea because it's really it's really made
us all closer. And yeah, you know he doesn't get
enough credit for brand, does he doesn't thank you? Well, Lance,
I want to thank you for being here with us,
thank you for taking this time. And I also want
to thank you and say to everybody that, like, while

(45:55):
Lance and I met, and I thought he was the
one true love of my life and that I thought
I was going to marry him. Um, the biggest, like
and most amazing takeaway from me from our relationship is
that Lance is still one of the greatest is a
great love of my life. It is not a romantic
love and it never was a romantic love. I thought

(46:15):
I had hopes for it to be, but it was not.
But like it didn't matter that that um Lance was
gay and that I was not going to end up
marrying him. Like we have maintained a friendship through all
these years, and of course there have been times, like
even with Writer and Will, with us, there have been
times where we've gone a year or two without speaking
or seeing each other, and you fall in and out

(46:36):
of each other's lives as things go on, but like
every time you come back together, it's like no time
has passed. And Lance is forever one of those people
for me, And he is like one of my most cherished,
cherished friends and a cherished person in my life, the
same way Writer and Will are. And yeah, I just
I want to thank you for being such a wonderful

(46:57):
person to me. Well did my friend. It's a you know,
it's very rare that you meet people that, yeah, you can,
you know, have that connection with that you can go
a couple of years, i't even like seeing each other,
but then just pick up right where we left off.
And you know, I have a handful of people like
that in my life. And you're definitely one of those.
And uh, I could not be happier that year in
my life. I love you, love you well. Thank you

(47:22):
everyone for joining us for this wonderful episode of Pod
Meets World. We uh send us your thoughts about what
you think about some of our pop culture episodes and
what you want to hear more of and what you
want to hear less of. You can write to us
at Pod meets World Show at gmail dot com. Make
sure you follow us on Pod meets World Show on
Instagram and Lance, where can we follow you? Um? Oh

(47:42):
yeah at lants Bass Instagram. TikTok's basically all I do
these days. I'm kind of getting rid of most of
it because good for you, Lance, you have a very
successful TikTok. You go, you go viral all the time. Well,
it's fun because is on TikTok. It's like your own
like TV network, right, so you get to entertain people

(48:06):
um and there and there. It's just fun. And I
don't see any negativity yet. That's what I said about
Twitter years ago. I'm like, oh, it's so positive, Um,
the supportive group. I didn't think everybody was so reasonable,
but this is amazing. So hopefully TikTok will stay that
way in my feed, and I'll actually enjoy it not

(48:26):
have to get rid of it a lot. Do you
come up with all your own TikTok's idea? What? What
are your like? Do you have people who help you
come up with some of your like genius social media
stuff or is it all you? It's just whatever naturally fits.
The good thing about TikTok is the trends already there
most of the time, so it's just trying to remake
this trend, so they make it easy for you. I
need to get into that because I don't like what

(48:48):
you just said. I know that there are TikTok trends,
but I don't even know where to find them. So
can you give me a TikTok tutorial? Want to give
you a tori. You're gonna come over with the kids.
We're gonna swim. We're gonna make your first TikTok okay effect,
I love I love that idea. I already have TikTok's
I have I have, I have some out there, but
you can make my first trending one. Okay, Yeah, You're
gonna make them better? Thank you? Please? Please? Yeah, please

(49:13):
please please bring me to that the babies in the
social media day. Yeah, that sounds like Will's perfect afternoon.
All right, Well, thank you for being here with us.
Uh and we will see you all next time. All right,
So good to see you all. Thanks. Hi. Well, that
was really fun to have him come on the show.
I um, I did not know that story writer about

(49:36):
Mickey Dolan's being behind him talking about the TV show.
It was one of those legendary moments like where he
realized it and I realized it, and it was like,
oh God, because you know, it's hard to you know,
it's it's so um. You know, we've talked maybe a
little bit about this, but like the distinction between being
a TV actor and a movie actor, and like, at
the time, the idea of a band doing a TV

(49:58):
show just seemed kind of cheesy. You were like, you know,
small potatoes for somebody like and Sync, who are huge
at the time. But of course back in Mickey's day,
like they were a band created for a TV show,
and and their TV show had been such a massive
head it was like they're bigger than the Beatles. They
were literally for two years, bigger than the Beatles, And yeah,
you know, I think for from Justin's perspective, who obviously

(50:21):
went on to become a movie actor, and you know,
the idea of like being on a TV show with
his band was just so cheesy piculous. But then he
turns around and like the one person you can't express
that sentiment too, is right there. That's hilarious. Yeah. I
I spent a lot of time with Justin and Lance because,
like I said, you know, very similarly even to our show,

(50:41):
you kind of get sectioned off based on who you're
closest in age two because there's a big difference in
age when you're that young, you know, eleven to thirteen,
The differences there are huge. The other guys like already
in their twenties. They were, Yeah, I mean Chris is
the oldest, right, Chris is the oldest, and he's like
ten years older than just and and Lance ten or

(51:01):
eleven years older, and I think j C is at
least three years older and Joey's four or five years older.
So like, they were definitely, and it's not that I
didn't spend time with them too. They also they also
spent a lot of time as a as a group,
and I got to be a part of that, But
the two of them were very close and um, and
so I spent a lot of time with the two
of them, and they were I mean still to this day,

(51:24):
Justin is one of the funniest people I've ever spent
time around in my entire life. He's laugh out loud funny.
Just few of us. I'm so lucky to know the
laugh out loud funny people like Wilford Ll Justin timber Lake,
but Dre. The thing that I loved about the end

(51:44):
stinct guys. And and this is something that um, you
obviously know a lot better than I do. But they
seemed to genuinely like each other. And that's something where
it was like us doing the show. I mean that
matters that you can tell when the chemistry is there,
and you know, know when you're putting people, you're putting
a cast together, you're putting a band together. You never
know when the chemistry is gonna work and when it doesn't.

(52:05):
And all those end synct guys, when they got together,
you could tell they genuinely enjoyed making art together, spending
time together, traveling together. I mean, you're a family instantly, um,
And that makes makes a huge difference, so that was cool.
Every time you saw them together, it was like, oh,
they like each other. Yea, the genuinely like each other.
That's a good thing. Yeah, I know, it is. It's
it is a perfect Our show is a perfect representation

(52:27):
of that in the TV form. We we genuinely enjoyed
each other and what we were doing, and I think
it comes across. I mean, people talk about that with
our podcast, which I'm really happy to see. People can
tell that we are you know, we genuinely love each
other and we're supportive of each other, and we also
rip each other, which is really fun. It's part of
the love. Yeah. Well, I love you guys. We've all

(52:48):
been doing this for We've only been recording for three
and a half hours today. Are you sure you don't
want it? Should we jump into that other podcast idea? Righta? Allright,
love it? Let's go. So we we opened on the draft.
Here we go when sure is smelly? All right, thanks
for being here. We love you all. Pod Dismissed pod
meets World is an I heart podcast produced and hosted

(53:10):
by Daniel Fishel Wilfred L and Ryder Strong. Executive producers
Jensen Carp and Amy Sugarman, Executive in charge of production,
Danielle Romo, producer and editor, Tara sud Boch, producer, Lorraine
Vierez Engineering Boy meets World super fan Easton Allen. Our
theme song is by Kyle Morton of Typhoon. Follow us
on Instagram at Pod Meets World Show or email us

(53:31):
at Pod Meets World Show at gmail dot com