Justin Timberlake Ditched NSYNC To Follow His Heart? Jessica Biel’s Husband Admits Struggles With Fatherhood

Remember the time when so many girls went crazy over the boyband NSYNC? However, they took a hiatus in 2002 and never reunited. But recently, Justin Timberlake, one of the band’s members, shed some light on why he chose to leave the band despite its popularity and success.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter for its Feb. 17 issue, the 36-year-old “Can’t Stop The Feeling” hitmaker reminisced his experiences when he got all the teenage girls’ attention at the time when he was still part of NSYNC. According to Timberlake, he didn’t have a normal childhood back then as he was once chased by a lot of young girls.

Almost 15 years after NSYNC went into hiatus, Timberlake shed some light on why he chose to leave bandmates Lance Bass, JC Chasez, Joey Datone and Chris Kirkpatrick even at the peak of the band’s success. Timberlake said he felt the need to follow his heart and had wanted other music.

“We were on a stadium tour, and I just felt like the whole thing was too big. It started as a fun snowball fight that was becoming an avalanche,” Timberlake said, E! News quoted. “And, also, I was growing out of it. I felt like I cared more about the music than some of the other people in the group. I felt like I had other music I wanted to make and that I needed to follow my heart.”

Following NSYNC’s hiatus, Timberlake began writing and recording songs for his debut album, titled “Justified.” At the time he made his solo performance at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards, he revealed was also the beginning of his friendship with Jimmy Fallon, who hosted the show for the first time. According to Us Weekly, after having connected dressing rooms and pacing to calm down their nerves, they’ve been friends since then.

Apart from reminiscing his experiences as a boyband member and his friendship with Fallon, Timberlake also got a bit personal and revealed his struggles with fatherhood. Daily Mail noted Timberlake, who’s a father to 2-year-old Silas with wife Jessica Biel, admitted being a dad was never a walk in the park, stressing no parent becomes an expert overnight.

“At first, it broke me down,” Timberlake admitted. “Those first eight months felt like those old [Ed Sullivan] shows where people are balancing spinning plates on poles - except if you drop one, they die. You go through your life with your own traumas, big and small… It's not that bad, I have a lot to be thankful for… But then you have a child of your own, and suddenly it opens all the floodgates, and you're like, ‘No, no, no! That childhood trauma really did [mess] me up!’”

Meanwhile, Timberlake's first number one single in a decade was “Can’t Stop the Feeling,” which was part of the movie soundtrack of “Trolls.” According to the Grammy-winning solo artist, he wrote the song as a gift to his wife and son, saying, “I'd never have written it if it weren't for him.”