Back in the day, promo tours for *NSYNC might have found the boy band visiting MTV’s TRL for some light grilling, or stopping by radio stations and network morning shows for a performance and chat. But this is 2023, so of course the guys — Justin Timberlake, Chris Kirkpatrick, JC Chasez, Lance Bass and Joey Fatone — had to make the now-obligatory stop at the YouTube series Hot Ones, where the questions were easy, but the damage was real.
With 60 wings arrayed before them — and Timberlake and Fatone going rogue with no milk or water to soothe their aching mouths — the guys tried to answer some softballs from host Sean Evans while keeping their cool. Spoiler: it was not pretty.
For example, when Evans asked about the difference to approaching a song in 2023 versus 25 years ago, Timberlake said their plan for the reunion track “Better Place” from his Trolls Band Together threequel was “to try to capture both. For our fans that have been with us for so long, to give them something that felt not necessarily nostalgic, but familiar.”
Easy enough.
Kirkpatrick then dove into the mechanics of boy bands, saying, for instance, that a “put together” group like One Direction had “five guys that are amazing singers and great soloists,” which meant each had to fight for where their spot would be. “We kinda knew we sucked at singing certain things,” he added as an insulted Fatone said “speak for yourself!”
“So we just fell into our spots and we knew our place,” Kirkpatrick added, as the rest of the group broke out into a familial, easy laughter that hinted at their deep bond.
As the scoville heat levels began to rise and the five started feeling the burn, they had a good laugh about their technical difficulties back in the day, including Fatone getting his legs smashed in a “toaster” bit that was supposed to pop him up on to the stage, but instead almost folded him in half.
They kept it chill as they recalled hearing their song on the radio for the first time, girls breaking into JT’s hotel room and hiding in the closet and confirming rumors that three of them were cast as Jedi warriors (and later cut out) in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. Timberlake and Bass, however, were “so butt hurt” that they weren’t asked.
Timberlake also confirmed that their Swedish producers — including Max Martin — insisted he pronounce “me” like “may” on “It’s Gonna Be Me,” which he said somehow made the song sound better and, of course, made for killer memes decades later.
By the time the scoville’s reached 135,000 the f-bombs started dropping and, well, they then came fast and furious as Timberlake — who had appeared on the show before, so should have known better — began to regret that no water thing as the guys tried to focus on their nuttiest looks from days gone by.
“Why is this a thing?!” JT wondered as Chasez asked what the “swearing quota” was for the show; for the record, chef Gordon Ramsay holds the high mark with more than 130, though they tried their best to beat the Hell’s Kitchen star at his f-bomb game. Timberlake and Fatone looked like they were dunked in sweat as Bass easily ticked off the band’s top five songs.
Watch the full *NSYNC Hot Ones episode below.
