Debbie Gibson is expressing her gratitude to ‘NSync member Lance Bass for being there for her in her time of need.
The “Lost In Your Eyes” singer, 55, reflected on her financial hardship in the late 2010s in her new memoir, Eternally Electric: The Message In My Music, noting that she spent “money I didn’t have” to put a down payment on a house in Los Angeles, for which she also took out a mortgage despite being wary about relying on a loan.
Gibson described falling “so far behind on my bills,” per an excerpt published by People on Wednesday, September 10, and her living situation as “up in the air.” Around this time, “I even had to temporarily rehome my cat,” she wrote.
Thankfully for the singer, Bass, 46, was there for her when she most needed it.
“I’ll never forget the day when Lance Bass’s assistant delivered five thousand dollars cash in a brown paper bag, a loan from a true friend who knew I needed some support and has since never made me feel less than,” Gibson wrote.
She continued, “That was a humbling moment, one of those times where you feel so vulnerable, the earth could swallow you up whole. The way Lance didn’t flinch and sent help immediately — I was so grateful to know such kindness in the midst of such a surreal and painful chapter in my life.”
Gibson said she and Bass became close friends after she performed as one of the supporting acts on ‘NSync’s 2001 PopOdyssey tour. In her memoir, Gibson recalled a disagreement with the band’s management over using her own piano for her set, prompting Bass to step in.
She wrote that the “boys’ management declared I was a ‘track act’ — ’We’re not traveling with her grand piano for one song; that’s ridiculous.’”
However, “Lance Bass went to bat for me: ‘You give her whatever the f— she wants.’ He and I have been friends ever since.”
Elsewhere in the book, Gibson reflected on her relationship with ex Chris Bruno, whom she dated in the mid-1990s, and how they have remained friends since then.
Gibson said Bruno recently described her as “the most driven woman I had ever met in my life” during their time together. She recalled him telling her, “I remember telling your mom, ‘She does more before nine a.m. than the US Marines!’ I never saw anyone put so much into their career or show your level of determination.”
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“While you’re tough when you need to be, we had a very sweet, kind, caring relationship where neither of us did anything to hurt the other,” he said, per Gibson’s account. “We had a lot of fun and that’s why we’re still friends today.”
Eternally Electric is available now.
