Lance Bass Would Replace Justin Timberlake With This ‘Glee’ Star in an *NSYNC Reunion

Here’s what you missed on Glee: Lance Bass was recently asked who he’d pick to replace Justin Timberlake in a potential *NSYNC reunion, and he chose the actor known for playing everyone’s favorite Warbler/hair gel connoisseur, Blaine Anderson: Darren Criss.

Appearing as a guest on the Sunday (Aug. 28) episode of Pod Meets World — a podcast hosted by former Boy Meets World stars Danielle Fishel, Rider Strong and Will Friedle — Bass responded to questions regarding the logistics of a possible *NSYNC comeback. Fishel, who just so happens to be the 43-year-old singer’s ex-girlfriend, specifically wanted to know who could fill Timberlake’s shoes if Bass’ former bandmate was unavailable to go on tour with the rest of the guys again.

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“Oh, I know exactly who it would be,” Bass said. “He’s really great with harmonies. A lot of people don’t know that [in college] he studied music and amazingly good harmonies — Darren Criss.”

“He loves boy bands,” he added about Criss, who earned his BFA at the University of Michigan. “He’s from that era. He would just be the perfect fit with us.”

Criss, who just a couple months ago finished his run in the Broadway revival of American Buffalo, got his breakout television role when he landed the part of Blaine in 2010 in season two of Glee. Coincidentally, he was part of the show’s tribute to *NYSNC during season four, performing “Bye Bye Bye” with his costars while tied to marionette puppet strings to recreate the song’s 2000 music video.

Fans have been waiting for about two decades for *NSYNC to properly reunite, but Bass, Timberlake, Chris Kirkpatrick, JC Chasez and Joey Fatone have remained distinctly noncommittal toward the idea. They’ve teamed up for a few performances here and there since going on hiatus in 2002, for which Timberlake is sometimes absent from the lineup. (See: the band’s surprise guest appearance at Ariana Grande’s 2019 Coachella show.)

And while an *NSYNC reunion is still up in the air, Bass and Fishel did announce on the podcast that a movie about their relationship, which took place between 1999 and 2000, was in the works. Both teen idols of the late ’90s, the pair got together after meeting at an event — where Timberlake played the part of wingman and got Fishel’s number to pass on to Bass. The pair attended Fishel’s senior prom together before breaking up.

“Lance and I had a hotel room booked and I had a vision for what that night was going to be,” the 41-year-old actress shared. “That is the night Lance talks about, where he felt like he was hurting me by not being honest with himself or anyone else about what was going on in his life. It was kind of the impetus for him to say, ‘I’m going to end our relationship.’”

“The reason we wanted to make this prom story into a film, I think so many people can relate to that story,” Bass added. “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.’ 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.”

Listen to Lance Bass talk *NSYNC, Darren Criss and his movie with Danielle Fishel below:

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