"Would you be my girlfriend?" realness.
Lance Bass became a household name as one of the band members of NSYNC, though it wouldn't be until a few years after the group disbanded that he could come out to the public as a gay man. In the meantime, Bass had to conceal his sexuality and play the part of a boyband heartthrob.
During a recent interview on the Pod Meets World podcast, actress Danielle Fishel revealed that she dated Bass "for about a year" while she was on Boy Meets World. "It was my senior year and Lance came with me to my high school prom," Fishel noted.
Now, Bass and Fishel are working on a movie adaptation of their experience going to prom together. And according to the NSYNC alum, going to prom with Fishel was a major turning point in his life.
"The reason we wanted to make this prom story into a film, I think so many people can relate to that story. So many people in the LGBT community, their prom night was the night they were like, 'Oh, wait a minute. This can't happen anymore,'" he explained. "This was the catalyst for me that made me start to accept myself, which took a long time after that, but that was definitely the first little straw that broke."
According to NBC News, Lauren Lapkus (Orange Is the New Black, Good Girls) and Mary Holland (Happiest Season, Physical) are currently writing the script for this movie about Bass and Fishel's prom experience.
Bass and Fishel first met in 1999 during a Boy Meets World episode that featured an appearance from NSYNC. The report notes that Bass developed a crush on Fishel after spending the day together filming that episode. Alas, it was wingman Justin Timberlake who asked for Fishel's number later that day so that Bass could stay in touch with her.
Fishel recalled:
"I thought I was going to marry Lance. I had envisioned our future. I held on for hope for way too long that we were going to get back together and get married and have a family. It turns out I'm not Lance's type."
Bass eventually had to say "Bye Bye Bye" to Fishel, but they still have a great friendship and a story that could be turned into a movie.
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