Nick Carter Could Have Been in *NSYNC Instead of Backstreet Boys, According to AJ McLean

When the 42-year-old Backstreet Boys singer reunited with his former boyband member AJ McLean at 90s Con in Connecticut over the weekend, Carter revealed how he had chosen to start his career with the iconic boy band 30 years ago.

Mclean revealed that he had first met Carter while auditioning for Disney and Nickelodeon in 1992 when the 44-year-old was working to build the band. Nick then recalled having to choose between joining the Backstreet Boys and accepting a contract with the "Mickey Mouse Club."

"I got offered a contract, and I turned it down," he spoke about facing a tough choice as a preteen. "I was supposed to be on the same team as Britney [Spears] and Ryan [Gosling]. And I got an option to go in for a Backstreet Boys audition. [AJ] was there."

Carter noted that the choice consisted of deciding between "the $50,000 contract from the 'Mickey Mouse Club' and Backstreet Boys, which had nothing really going for it," he stated, "I chose the Backstreet Boys."

"Biggest decision of your life," McLean said to Carter. "Think about it. You could potentially have been in *NSYNC. Who knows!"

Back in the '90s both the Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC rose to popularity simultaneously which created an air of competition between the bands and their fans.

Although fans quickly chose one group over the other, Carter, McLean and *NSYNC member Joey Fatone set the record straight and revealed that there was never any bad blood between the two groups.

"They kept us kind of away [from each other], I think. Our managers were the same managers, Lou Pearlman in the very early stages," Fatone explained. "[Backstreet Boys] were doing their thing, and we were doing ours, and they never really brought us together because I don't think they wanted us to talk to each other."

Despite the friendly competition between the dueling bands, Mclean admitted that he and Chris Kirkpatrick did struggle to get along when they had met.

"Chris and I did not like each other at first," McLean confessed. "There was a reason. We dated the same girl two years apart. Now Chris and I are like really close friends. He's a father now, so we have that in common. Things have changed."

In the end, Carter admitted that things had worked out for the better, "You could say that without *NSYNC that we wouldn't be the Backstreet Boys. There wouldn't be that competition."