Lance Bass teases potential future NSYNC plans: ‘I don’t see this as our last thing’

“Because of this strike, I feel like we owe it to the fans again to rectify this and do something else,” Bass tells EW.

It’s been tearin’ up fans’ hearts wondering what’s next for NSYNC after the iconic boy band reunited onstage at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards before releasing their first single in over two decades, titled “Better Place,” as part of the soundtrack for the upcoming animated film Trolls Band Together. With no planned live performances of the single or any news of future reunions, could it really be bye, bye, bye already?!

“I wish I had some answers for you but as everyone knows, the strike continues and it really threw a wrench in all of this,” Lance Bass tells EW while promoting his new partnership with Boursin Cheese as this year’s Maison Boursin Host In Residence. “We finally released a song after 23 years and we can’t even mention the song and we can’t talk about the movie it’s in. It was going to be such a special moment for all of us, and unfortunately that got sidetracked.”

Lance Bass. David Becker/Getty

But Bass adds that as a proud member of both the Writers Guild and Screen Actors Guild, he supports both the resolved writers strike and ongoing actors strike. “We have to get it right this time, and unfortunately, NSYNC had to go down in flames for that one,” he says. “But we had so much fun, I don’t see this as our last thing. Because of this strike, I feel like we owe it to the fans again to rectify this and do something else. But until the strike ends, we can’t really even figure out what is next, if there’s anything next. Hopefully we’ll have a plan in place once this lifts and we’re able to get back to work.”

In September, all former NSYNC members, Bass, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick, and Justin Timberlake, shocked fans by appearing onstage together for the first time in a decade. However, they didn’t perform any of their old hits or new music — they only reunited to present the Best Pop award, which went to Taylor Swift, who said what we were all thinking: “Are you doing something? What’s gonna happen now? They’re gonna do something and I need to know what it is.”

NSYNC members Chris Kirkpatrick, JC Chasez, Justin Timberlake, Lance Bass, and Joey Fatone backstage at the 2023 MTV VMAs. John Shearer/Getty

Seeing the response to their onstage reunion and single was “beautiful” and “overwhelming,” Bass says. “Even just doing the VMAs, I did not expect that many people to really care, but it was great to see. Especially since we’re not even able to mention the song, the fact that it is on the radio and people are streaming it like no other is very special and shows how much love that our fans have and [the love] we have for our fans. We can’t thank them enough.”

While the band’s future is wide open right now, Bass isn’t opposed to doing a massive world tour — especially if they partnered up with other nostalgic boy bands who have recently reunited like the Backstreet Boys and 98 Degrees.

“It would be super fun,” Bass says. “But if we did a tour, I’d want it to be with my boys first. We love to put on a show, that was our favorite, favorite thing. We spent every dime that we made on our tours — which, hindsight, I probably would’ve changed a little bit — so I think it would be fun to remind everyone what we do in our shows. And then after that, heck yeah, it would be so fun to do something with all those iconic groups. New Kids [On the Block] are doing it so well right now with their MixTape tour, I think there’s a lot of room for us to tour with lots of fun groups from back then.”