Lance Bass Shocked to Learn He’s (Distantly) Related to Britney Spears

For years Lance Bass has thought of Britney Spears as his little sister, but as it turns out, she’s actually his little cousin. Sixth cousin, but still. On Monday night’s (Nov. 8) episode of Ancestry’s 2 Lies & a Leaf YouTube series, Bass and husband Michael Turchin discovered that Lance and Britney are sixth cousins once removed.

“Look, I wanted to be related to the queen [of England] but now I’m related to the Queen of Pop,” former *NSYNC member Bass, 42, said upon learning that Spears, 39, is distant kin in the game show-style series in which people answer questions to learn about their ancestry. “That is so crazy, though, because I feel like she’s my little sister,” he said. “And this whole time she’s been my little cousin.”

The shocking news came after Bass and Turchin were asked to choose which celeb the former boy band star might be related to: Spears, Elvis or Faith Hill. For the record, Bass guessed Presley, while Turchin correctly named Spears. “That means I’m related to one of these?” an excited Bass said, hoping against all hope that it was Brit.

“That’s too good to be true,” added Bass, who was born just 98 miles away from Spears in Laurel, Mississippi. “For some reason, I always felt like we looked like family when we were kids,” he laughed. The pair first met when they were both baby pop stars on the rise in the late 1990s. “This means so much to me… She is like family to me. So, the fact that we are blood-related is amazing.”

Watch Bass’ wild reaction below.