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Lance Bass is shocked to learn he's related to Britney Spears

"I feel like she's my little sister and this whole time she's been my little cousin," the former 'N Sync star said.
/ Source: TODAY

Turns out Lance Bass and Britney Spears don't just share a musical connection — they are also related.

Bass appeared in a recent episode of “2 Lies & A Leaf” with Ancestry along with his husband, Michael Turchin. At the end of the episode, the two were asked to answer "Which unexpected distant relative is a part of Lance's musical family tree?"

Between Faith Hill, Spears, and Elvis Presley, Bass guessed the rock 'n' roll icon.

Left: Bass smiles in a blue suit jacket outside. Right: Spears smiles at the camer from her seat wearing a white, one-shoulder dress
Lance Bass was shocked to learn he is related to his longtime friend, pop star Britney Spears.Getty Images

"I really hope it’s Britney, but there’s no way," Bass said as Turchin chose Spears. 

When it was announced that Bass is actually a relative of the "Oops!... I Did It Again" songstress, he gasped, "Are you kidding me?"

"I don't care about losing because this is amazing!" he told his husband.

Ancestry confirmed that Bass and Spears are sixth cousins, once removed. "I wanted to find out I was related to the Queen, turns out I'm related to the Queen of Pop — and that’s even better," Bass said, shocked.

The former 'N Sync boy bander added, "That is so crazy, though, cause I feel like she's my little sister and this whole time she's been my little cousin."

Bass explained the shocking news "makes sense because we were born an hour from each other."

Both musicians were born in Mississippi — Bass is from Laurel and Spears was born in the small town of McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana.

"For some reason, I've always felt we looked like family, even when we were kids," Bass said. He shared that Spears "is like family" to him and now they really are blood relatives. 

Lance Bass and Britney Spears smile on a red carpet. Bass is in a black suit with a red button-down shirt and Spears is in a sparkly, white gown
Lance Bass and Britney Spears at the 2003 American Music Awards in Los Angeles. KMazur / WireImage

TODAY reached out to Spears’ reps for a comment but did not immediately hear back.

In an interview with Ancestry, Bass continued to gush over their connection. "Britney and I have known each other since we were children, and when I think back to when we’d be on the road together, the thing I loved most about her is that she was just so much fun," he recalled. "She's a very funny person and she just made me laugh so much. She's the type of person that you're watching the movie, and she keeps nudging you like 'Who’s that? Why did they do that?' and I’d be like 'I don’t know, we’re watching the same movie.'"

The two pop stars, whose careers both took off in the '90s, have a special relationship. In 2019, Lance Bass revealed on "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen" that he came out to Britney Spears two years before he told the public.  

In July, Bass said during an appearance on the “Heather Dubrow’s World” podcast that he hasn't spoken to Spears "in years," but that he has been supporting her and the #FreeBritney movement from afar.

"I believe that she needs to be away from the dad, she needs to pick her own people to run this conservatorship if she even needs one, especially choosing her own lawyer," Bass explained. "We've been kept away from each other for quite a while. But I don’t know exactly what she needs. But I do know that she — to me and what I see — is sane enough to pick her own people."

This familial revelation could help the two reconnect. Now that he has a new addition to his family tree, Bass is ready to celebrate the holidays together.

"If I could say anything to Britney right now, it would be 'Alright cuz, we have Christmas to plan,'" he told Ancestry. "'We have lots of holidays to really enjoy, so get ready cause cousin Lance is on the case!'"

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