Lance Bass, one of the celebrity guest hosts from season 7 of Bachelor in Paradise, called Connor B. out for using the show to boost his music career. Connor B. talks with BiP alums Ashley Iaconetti and Ben Higgins to explain what Bass misunderstood and clarify his reasons for asking about his song being in the show.
Lance Bass doesn’t think Connor B. is ‘here for the right reasons’
Bass was a guest on a Bachelor Nation podcast, The Viall Files. During his interview, Bass accuses Connor of going on Bachelor in Paradise for the wrong reasons.
“You can tell he’s a very sweet guy, but I’m not convinced he’s there to find love,” Lance tells Nick Viall.” I definitely see him on there trying to start his country career like a lot of people do on that show.”
According to Bass, Connor B. asked if his song made it into Katie Thurston’s season of The Bachelorette. “[Connor] was like, ‘Wait did my song make it? Did my song make it?’” Bass recalls to Viall. “I’m like, ‘Yeah, I think your song made it.’ But that was like the only thing he was concerned about, was if his song made the cut.” As Connor B. explains it, the song isn’t what he cared about.
‘BiP’ isn’t a career move for Connor B.
As a guest on The Ben and Ashley I. Almost Famous Podcast, Connor explains why he asked Bass if his song made it onto the show. “We showed up [and] lived this crazy experience,” he says. “We all wanted to know what we looked like on TV. So I said, ‘Oh, did my song make it?’ because I wanted to know if I was on the show at all.”
Connor B. ensures his question came from genuine curiosity. “I didn’t know if I was going to show up on TV at all,” he adds. “It wasn’t like ‘Hey, I want to start a music career.’ I was genuinely interested if they showed my song or not.”
Connor B. was ‘annoyed with Lance Bass’ for the comments about his music career
During his conversation with Iaconetti and Higgins, Connor B. admits the N*SYNC singer hurt his feelings. “I was annoyed with Lance Bass for saying that because I love [him] — I was so excited to meet him and in awe of him,” says the Bachelor in Paradise star.
According to Connor B., he wasn’t the only one interested in what happened in the episodes from Thurston’s season. They all had questions about what the producers chose to air. Plus, Connor B. says he was worried about joining the cast of The Bachelorette at first for fear of people saying he was only doing it to boost his music career.
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“I am sensitive about that,” he explains to Higgins and Iaconetti. “Having one of your heroes say it, it’s just a bummer. It definitely stung coming from him.”
Representation for Bass did not reply to a request for comment at the time of publication. See more from Connor B. on Bachelor in Paradise. New episodes air Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 PM EST on ABC.
