WATCH: Lance Bass Worried His Coming Out Would 'Ruin' 'N Sync

On The Ricki Lake Show yesterday, former 'N Sync member Lance Bass told the daytime talk host that he was "asexual" when he was with the band, because he feared that coming out as gay would "completely ruin 'N Sync if anyone knew my deep, dark secret."

Despite knowing that he was gay since he was 4 years old, Bass told Lake that he went along with homophobic lessons he heard in church and in the southern community in which he grew up. He even participated in antigay jokes and prayed nightly that he would "wake up straight."

"Coming out has definitely completely changed my life, and my career, and everything," Bass told Lake. "For good and bad. When you look at my career right after 'N Sync, I had a lot of things I wanted to do, and then coming out completely changed everything I wanted to do, but to me, in a good way. I would rather be in a position where I can help other people than be the biggest superstar in the world and pretending I'm straight."