NSync's Lance Bass Comes Out

LOS ANGELES, CA -- Lance Bass, 27, from NSync comes out in an interview with People magazine, scheduled to hit the shelves on Friday. Bass reveals that he hid his sexuality because he was afraid it would affect the popularity of his band.

"I knew that I was in this popular band and I had four other guys' careers in my hand, and I knew that if I ever acted on it or even said (that I was gay), it would overpower everything," he tells the magazine.

"The thing is, I'm not ashamed -- that's the one thing I want to say," Bass told People. "I don't think it's wrong, I'm not devastated going through this. I'm more liberated and happy than I've been my whole life."

In the interview he also tells that he is in a stable relationship with Reichen Lehmkuhl, model and winner of season four of CBS' "Amazing Race."

Bass said he is coming out now because rumors "really were starting to affect my daily life. Now it feels like it's on my terms."