*NSync singer Lance Bass says he is gay

LOS ANGELES - Lance Bass, a singer in the boy band *NSync, has revealed that he is gay and in a relationship with a former star of a US reality television show, People magazine said today.

Bass, 27, said he had kept his homosexuality a secret because he did not want to hurt *NSync's popularity and cripple the careers of his bandmates.

"The thing is, I'm not ashamed -- that's the one thing I want to say," Bass told People. "I don't think it's wrong, I'm not devastated going through this. I'm more liberated and happy than I've been my whole life."

Bass said he has a "very stable" relationship with actor Reichen Lehmkuhl, 32, who appeared on the reality TV show Amazing Race.

*NSync, whose members included Justin Timberlake, Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick and JC Chasez, had hits like I Want You Back, Bye Bye Bye and Tearing Up My Heart and was at the forefront of the 1990s "boy band" craze. The group went on hiatus in 2002.

Bass told People he had not previously revealed he was gay because he feared it would hurt the band's popularity and the careers of his bandmates.

"I knew that I was in this popular band and I had four other guys' careers in my hand and I knew that if I ever acted on it or even said (that I was gay), it would overpower everything," Bass said.

Bass said the reason he wanted to come out in public now is that rumours "really were starting to affect my daily life. Now it feels like it's on my terms."

The People issue with the Bass story, which his spokesman verified, hits news-stands at the end of the week.

- REUTERS