Jam: Spotlight on Music StarsJoey Fatone on an *NSYNC Reunion: ‘You Never Know’
It's been eight years since boy band *NSYNC last belted out a tune together, but former member Joey Fatone knows better than to officially rule out a future reunion at some point.
"You never know," he tells omg!. "Everybody has their own stuff right now. Everybody's in their 30s and I think the time is not right yet, but you never know. There might be a time where it's just like, 'Hey, let's get together and have some fun.' I think that's what it boils down to is really getting the five of us together and saying, 'Do we do it or not?'" he explains. "You saw New Kids [on the Block] do it. Years earlier if you asked, 'Hey you want to do this?' They'd be like, 'Heck no. I ain't doing that! Never.' And then look where they are now."
And despite the fact that the one-time bandmates are spread out around the country working on their own individual careers, Fatone says he's made an effort to stay in touch. "I talk to all the guys. I'm probably the only one that talks to all of them, periodically."
That's when he has time, of course. A sudden showbiz Renaissance man, the 35-year-old recently participated in the Food Network competition series "Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off," currently stars in the live Las Vegas versions of "Dancing With the Stars " and "The Price Is Right," and hosts his own TV show, "My Family Recipe Rocks" on the Live Well Network. The series follows Fatone as he travels around America visiting everyday people who can cook up some seriously special dishes that have often been handed down from generation to generation. And yes, Fatone gets to taste them all. So far, so good … really good, actually.
"I've never really eaten collard greens before. I met a guy that made collard greens, and it was really, really good. Really tasty. And I'd never eaten Quinoa before. I didn't know what that was, but it was great," he explains. "Then one family did almost like a sushi kind of thing with Spam. And it was really good!"
And despite the comfort food connotations that come with family recipes, Fatone says he's actually been surprised at how healthy home cooks can be. "They're using brown rice instead of the white rice, and making more healthy choices along the way," he shares. "Some of these families have kids, and they try to make meals that are fairly quick and easy, but also healthy. Obviously you get the occasional collard greens with the ham hock in it, and we'll throw a big old steak on it … but it's going to be in moderation, you know, everything's portion size."
With all this TV cooking experience, Fatone's wife of eight years, Kelly, is expecting a bit more from her hubby at home. "My wife's like, 'You're going to have to get in the kitchen now and cook a lot more, because I saw what you can do in under an hour.' She's putting me to work. I just dabble a little bit, doing different things, making stir-fry, chicken or shrimp stir-fry. And every once in a while, I'll look at something, and I'll say, 'OK, maybe I can try to do that.'"
The couple and their two daughters, 11-year-old Brianna and 2-year-old Kloey, currently live in Orlando, Florida, but will soon be making the move to Los Angeles so that Fatone can cut back on his travel, spend more time with his family, and maybe even squeeze in a date night here and there. "We try. At the moment it's tough for date night, but there was actually one point where she did come out to Vegas to see me, and my parents took care of the kids. So that was a nice three or four days," he adds. "I was home a couple of days ago, for like a day or two. We're trying to see each other as much as we can right now."
While home life can be hectic, the Fatones aren't about to add to the chaos with any more family members. "We are two and through," he confesses. "Once you're outnumbered, it's kind of tough. With two, you can throw one to one person, you can handle the other kid, but the minute you got three … it's hard. I couldn't be any happier. It's great!"
"My Family Recipe Rocks" airs Saturdays at 9pm ET on the Live Well Network.
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