BravoIt might have been one of the biggest bangers of the 90s, but let’s face it, we all knew I Want It That Way made absolutely no sense.
And now, finally, the truth has been revealed – as The Backstreet Boys themselves have admitted it was a load of nonsense.
While appearing on Watch What Happens Live last week, February 11, the band – which consists of Nick Carter, Kevin Richardson, Brian Littrell, AJ McLean and Howie Dorough – explained that the iconic track doesn’t have any hidden meaning to it.
Check it out here:
During the show, a fan called in and asked:
In your song ‘I Want It That Way,’ why do you sing ‘I never want to hear you say/I want it that way’? What way do you not want it to be?
Host Andy Cohen praised the caller for asking a ‘good question’, adding that he was also interested in hearing the answer.
AJ was the first to respond, telling Andy and the caller:
First of all the song makes no sense. There was a completely different version of the song that actually made sense and thankfully we decided to go back to the one that didn’t make sense.
Laughing, he added, ‘I don’t think it would’ve been as big as it was, had it made sense.’
GettyAnother fan called in to ask for confirmation on a rumour that has been doing the rounds for a while now: Was Ryan Gosling almost a Backstreet Boy?
‘It got so blown out of proportion,’ AJ said, explaining that when the band first got together, they were living in the same apartment complex as Gosling, who was starring in Mickey Mouse Club with Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake at the time.
He added:
We would play basketball like every other day and I had told him that the group had just started. I told him Backstreet Boys was going to be huge, and he was like ‘Not going to happen bro.’ He was wrong.
New Line CinemaIt did happen, but he was never going to audition. Somehow the press misconstrued it and then it became a thing.
Now, that would have been incredible. Except, then we would probably be without his incredible appearances in The Notebook, La La Land and Crazy, Stupid Love to name a few.
Anyway, I Want It That Way is still an absolute tune, whether it makes sense or not.
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Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.