00s pop star reveals TV show was axed after he came out as gay-Emily Bashforth-Entertainment – Metro

Lance Bass came out as gay in 2006 (Picture: David Becker/Getty Images for iHeartRadio)

Singer and actor Lance Bass has revealed that a TV show he was filming was suddenly scrapped after he came out.

The 45-year-old star came out as gay in a cover story for People in 2006 following intense media speculation surrounding his sexuality.

Lance had been papped at gay clubs, and after a sighting with a rumoured boyfriend, his team booked the exclusive interview. The magazine ditched Johnny Depp as their cover star in his favour.

Speaking in his coming out interview, Lance declared that he ‘is not ashamed’ of his sexuality and he felt ‘more liberated and happy than [he’s] been [his] whole life.’

Reflecting on that time of his life, the pop star has now shared that a pilot he was planning to shoot for The CW was unexpectedly axed after the article dropped.

‘I had a sitcom with The CW at the time, and we were about to shoot the pilot and this came out, and they were like, “We can’t do the show anymore. Like, they have to believe that you’re straight to play a straight character”,’ he told the Politickin’ podcast.

The actor and singer said he ‘lost everything’ (Picture: Reuters)

‘Every casting director I knew, they’re like, “Lance, we can’t cast you because they can’t look past… You’re too famous for being gay now that they can’t look at you as anything other than that.”

‘So, I lost everything.’

Lance described that period as a ‘crazy, scary situation’ because any other examples he had of coming out in the entertainment industry showed it as a ‘career killer’.

The American star, who is married to Michael Turchin, ventured into acting after his stint in boyband NSYNC from 1995 to 2002.

He was initially asked to audition for the group by Justin Timberlake after their original bass singer, Jason Galasso, quit.

Lance began acting in the romantic comedy On the Line in 2001, and has gone on to star in movies Hell and Back, plus Trolls Band Together, as well as TV shows Gravity Falls, BoJack Horseman, The Rookie, and How I Met Your Father.

Lance stated in his coming out interview that he was not ‘ashamed’ of his sexuality (Picture: Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images for Caruso)

He was also a contestant on Dancing With the Stars in 2008 and enjoyed a six-month run in the Broadway production of Hairspray.

Last year, he reunited with his NSYNC bandmates to release a new single, Better Place.

The reaction to his coming out was ‘overwhelming’ and the singer was inundated with messages of support, particularly from NSYNC fans who grew up with his music.

However, it took him a while to accept himself, especially after knowing he was gay from a young age but fearing telling the world because it felt ‘dangerous’.

‘As a very religious person growing up, you know, I wanted to do everything I could not to go burn in hell,’ he recalled recently to People.

‘I would cry like every night. You know, I would pray, “Please wake up not being gay. Please wake up being attracted to girls.” Which is, like, a sad thing to put on a little kid.’

He was supported by NSYNC fans after telling the world that he was gay (Picture: Larry Marano/REX/Shutterstock)

Lance dated women while closeted (Picture: AP)

He also dated women, most famously Boy Meets World star Danielle Fishel, while closeted.

‘You would trick yourself into thinking this is what love is, right? This is what it feels like,’ he said.

‘And I thought I loved these girls that I, you know, dated. And then you just wake up one day, and you’re like, “No, uh-uh, this is not it”.’

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