Joey Fatone isn't mad Justin Timberlake said, "Bye bye bye."
After *NSYNC's recent reunion to record their new song "Better Place," Joey is looking back at why the boy band—which also includes members JC Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick, and Lance Bass—split in the first place: Justin's solo career. But while that career pivot meant that the group's time together came to an end, the Joey isn't tearin' up his heart over the decades-old drama.
"I was not blindsided by the breakup," the 45-year-old revealed to Yahoo Entertainment in an interview published Oct. 3. "I was more blindsided as far as him coming out with music and not knowing that he was going to go and do an actual album/tour thing. It was more of, ‘Hey, I'm going to do some music, and then we'll get back together.' That's what that was."
And though Justin did not in fact return to the group after the release of his first solo album Justified in 2002, Joey knows it wasn't Justin's fault he stayed gone.
"And it wasn't him," he explained of Justin's exit. "It was the record company. If it was him, then I'd understand it. When you're younger, you think it's that person. But then you look at the whole bigger scheme of things, and you go, ‘Oh, that's why I wasn't there for that.' That's the business."
In fact, Justin's exit made way for the next phase of Joey's career.
"Then when he went on tour and then things started going," the My Big Fat Greek Wedding actor reflected, "I was like, ‘All right, I'll go do Broadway.' That's when I did Broadway. I started doing Dancing with the Stars. I started hosting TV shows and doing my own thing, and that was what led me."
And Joey has no regrets, adding, "That's the beautiful part about it: My career and my life led me somewhere else, and I'm good and I'm happy with it."
Now, the group members' careers have led them back into the studio for the release of "Better Place," which was recorded for Trolls Band Together—which fittingly focuses on a former boy band. A significance that is not lost on Joey.
"Justin came up to us about the idea," he said of the band's reunion. "It only fit right for us to do this together as a group. I think the message, the meaning, everything just all around, came to him."
And though the Hollywood strikes are currently preventing *NSYNC from completing their reunion with an onstage performance, they say something is in the works.
Until then, satisfy your ‘90s nostalgia with the following facts about the boy band.