Lance Bass says he knows "tons" of closeted gay celebrities, but he has no intention of outing them any time soon.
The former NSYNC'er appeared on Bethenny Frankel's show, "Bethenny," Sept. 19 and played a round of "Would You Ever?" backstage. He pulled questions out of fish bowl, one of which was: "Would you ever lie to help a closeted celebrity stay closeted?"
"Yes, I would and I have," Bass says in the episode set to air Monday. "I know tons of celebrities that are in the closet right now. But it's up to them to decide if they want to come out or not. And I will support any decision they make."
Last week, straight French actor Gilles Marini paid a visit to Frankel's show and also discussed the subject of closeted celebrities, but he had a different take.
“We’re in 2013. I think it’s very uncool to be in the closet nowadays," he said, adding,”Don’t stay in the closet. You’ll only hurt your heart and, down the line, probably your family. They need to know the truth about what you like and what you want in life.”
Bass certainly knows a bit more about being closeted. The 34-year-old didn't publicly come out as gay until 2006, years after NSYNC announced their hiatus. Last year, he told Ricki Lake he was scared the revelation would "completely ruin" the band.
"I didn’t tell a single person when I was with NSYNC, I didn’t tell a friend a family member nothing like that,” he said. “As long as I was with NSYNC, I didn’t date a guy, I was completely asexual.”
Ultimately, he decided to be honest. “I would rather be in a position where I could help other people than be the biggest superstar in the world and pretend to be straight.”
Before You Go
