In the ’90s, there were two pop culture behemoths that captured teen’s attention in a big way: the pop group *NSYNC and the TV show Boy Meets World. Those two entities came into each other’s orbit when singer Lance Bass from the popular group started dating Danielle Fishel (Topanga) from the popular show.
The relationship went well, apparently, and the two even went to prom together. Now they’re making a movie about the experience, according to an episode of the Pod Meets World podcast. Now I know what you’re thinking, isn’t Bass openly gay? He is, but he wasn’t then – making him one of the dreamiest of dreamy pop stars for young people everywhere at the time.
“Lance and I are actually working on a movie about our love story and about our prom experience,” Fishel said on the pod. “I dated Lance for about a year while I was on Boy Meets World. It was my senior year and Lance came with me to my high school prom.”
The couple met when *NSYNC came to tape a live special for ABC’s TGIF block of programming. The couple spent the day together, and Bass asked fellow boy bander Justin Timberlake to ask for her number. They started dating, and Bass would eventually take her to her prom, she explained.
“I thought I was going to marry Lance. I had envisioned our future. I held on for hope for way too long that we were going to get back together and get married and have a family,” she said. “It turns out I’m not Lance’s type.”
The Instagram page for the podcast even shared a photo of the two lovebirds right before the blessed event.
Bass came out in 2006 and related that going to prom was one of the reasons he decided to reveal his true self.
“The reason we wanted to make this prom story into a film, I think so many people can relate to that story; 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.”
Actress and writer Lauren Lapkus (Crashing) and Marie Holland are penning the script, according to Variety. Fishel revealed that the two had a wonderful relationship but that it was completely devoid of any physical intimacy. The night of the prom the couple even booked a hotel room.
“Lance and I had a hotel room booked and I had a vision for what that night was going to be and Lance was very nervous about what my vision for that night was going to be. 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 so it was kind of the impetus for him to say, ‘I’m going to end our relationship.’”
The Pod Meets World podcast is currently streaming.