While it was nice for Lance Bass to show that vaguely celebrityish people can have loving homosexual relationships in the public eye, he's now breaking barriers for other gay couples by splitting up with his boyfriend and releasing a dull statement about it.
Lance Bass had been going out with his boyfriend Reichen Lehmkuhl for a few months – but heartbreak eventually hits everyone, including one of the rubbish ones from 'N Sync, and Lance Bass and Reichen Lehmkuhl have announced that they have split up. As yet there's been no word as to what caused the break-up of Bass and Lehmkuhl, but if we were to hazard a guess we'd say it had something to do with the time that Lance Bass actually swallowed his tongue trying to enunciate Reichen Lehmkuhl's surname clearly for an elderly relative.
Coming out as gay wasn't just a brave move for Lance Bass – he was lucky that the three-person subsection of society which a) still likes 'N Sync and b) hadn't already guessed that Lance Bass was probably gay weren't alienated by his coming-out – but it has also given his career a shot in the arm, too. Before he announced that he was gay, Lance Bass was merely a former member of a boyband struggling to find a career. But now he's the gay former member of a boyband struggling to find a career who Justin Timberlake likes. That's a big difference – Justin Timberlake doesn't like everyone, you know. Just ask Taylor Hicks.
It probably helped Lance Bass that he didn't admit to having inter-bush fumbles with strangers like George Michael when he came out; instead he was ensconced within a loving monogamous relationship with Reichen Lehmkuhl, a model/ actor/ soldier/ reality TV star/ author/ estate agent (seriously, People lists all of these as Reichen Lehmkuhl's careers). During their happy times together, Reichen Lehmkuhl said of Lance Bass:
"I'm just really proud of Lance and the decision he made. He did it all on his own and I just stood by and supported him. It's just been great."
But now something terrible has happened – Lance Bass has split up with Reichen Lehmkuhl, and the couple have released a statement saying:
"We remain the best of friends. Please respect our privacy as we try to work things out during this difficult time."
It's nice to see that Lance Bass are using the old 'remain friends' line, just like Paris Hilton, Brittany Murphy, Phil Collins and every other breaking-up celebrity couple ever. This means we can expect a bitter, sobbing, spite-fuelled interview on a daytime talkshow from one of them before too long.
But don't be too cut up that Lance Bass and Reichen Lehmkuhl aren't together any more, since the whole story can basically be boiled down to Man You Don't Care About No Longer Item With Man You've Never Even Heard Of.
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