Joey Fatone Says He Thought Justin Timberlake Was Going to Rejoin *NSYNC After 'Justified' Tour

Fatone opened up about how he felt "blindsided" by the record label's choice to focus on Justin Timberlake's solo career instead of *NSYNC

Joey Fatone didn’t expect to say “Bye, Bye, Bye” to *NSYNC when he did.

The singer/TV personality, 46, opened up to Yahoo! Entertainment in an interview that was published on Tuesday about his *NSYNC bandmate Justin Timberlake’s decision to go solo and their eventual split. He admitted that, although he wasn’t “blindsided” by the band’s hiatus, he was by the extent that Timberlake, 42, was occupied with his individual career.

“I was not blindsided by the breakup; I was more blindsided as far as him coming out with music and not knowing that he was going to go and do an actual album/tour thing,” Fatone told the outlet.

Related: A Timeline of *NSYNC's Recent Reunion: From VMAs to the ‘Trolls’ Soundtrack

He continued, “It was more of, ‘Hey, I'm going to do some music, and then we'll get back together.’ That's what that was.”

The singer shared that he and his bandmates thought *NSNYC was going to resume as normal after the “SexyBack” artist returned from his Justified World Tour, which lasted from May 2003 to June 2004 and followed the release of his debut solo effort of the same name. “We thought he was just going to go out and just come back after the [Justified] tour. I was like, OK. But he went on tour and then things started going.”

Related: Meet the Kids of *NSYNC's Bandmates

The Dancing with the Stars runner-up also clarified that he understands now that the changes the pop band went through weren’t solely his bandmate’s choice. “And it wasn't him — it was the record company,” Fatone explained. “If it was him, then I'd understand it. When you're younger, you think it's that person. But then you look at the whole bigger scheme of things, and you go, ‘Oh, that’s why I wasn't there for that.’ That's the business. OK, I get it.”

Fatone also told Yahoo! Entertainment that the band’s hiatus ended up being positive, so he could do his “own thing,” including Broadway and TV. “That's the beautiful part about it: My career and my life led me somewhere else, and I'm good and I'm happy with it,” he said.

*NSNYC reunited with their first song in over 20 years last Friday. After teasing it for several weeks, the ‘90s icons released “Better Place,” an original single off the Trolls Band Together soundtrack.

All five members of the beloved group — Fatone, Timberlake, Chris Kirkpatrick, JC Chasez and Lance Bass — appear on the song, which is an infectious banger that calls back their early boy band sound and has a contemporary disco-pop beat.

Related: Lance Bass Says He Was Surprised *NSYNC Fandom 'Would Go This Nuts' Over Reunion — and Blames Taylor Swift

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Although the “Tearin’ Up My Heart” band has reunited in the past — joining each other at their Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in 2018 and teaming up in honor of Timberlake’s video vanguard award at the 2013 MTV VMAs — “Better Place” was the first time they dropped new music in decades.

The fivesome officially reunited this year at the VMAs in September, where they shocked fans as they appeared on stage together to present the award for best pop video.

Since then, they’ve shared a handful of fun, heartful posts on social media celebrating getting back together.

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