Britney Spears’ tell-all memoir offered a closer look into the set of “The All New Mickey Mouse Club,” which also cast other future stars, like Christina Aguilera and Ryan Gosling. Spears described the cast of preteens forming their own social groups and mentioned that she “quickly connected with a boy named Justin Timberlake” (via People).
Timberlake, too, felt an instant connection to his Mouseketeer costar. “I was in love with her from the start,” the “Sexyback” singer told Lisa DePaulo in a 2006 GQ interview (via CBS News). “I was infatuated with her from the moment I saw her.”
This mutual attraction survived the two performers parting ways after the “New Mickey Mouse Club” season ended, eventually rekindling when Spears joined Timberlake’s new boy band, *NSYNC, on tour in 1998. The pair were dating by 1999. In a “Rich and Famous” interview in 2001, Spears said, “I want to scream it to the world that I love him. I’m not ashamed of that. We love each other, and that’s what matters.”
