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After years of waiting, we’re finally getting to the bottom of what really happened with Joey Fatone and Pink. Pink previously revealed they secretly went out in the early 2000s, but Fatone didn’t immediately comment on her claims. However, he finally opened up about their past in an interview published in January.

Joey Fatone and Pink
(L-R) Joey Fatone and Pink | Jason Koerner/Getty Images North America; Steve Granitz/Getty Images North America

Joey Fatone asked Pink out

Fatone and Pink dated in secret in the early 2000s. At the time, he was enjoying success as a member of the iconic boy band NSYNC while Pink was at the top of her game as a solo artist with songs such as “There You Go” and “Lady Marmalade.”

The fling would eventually become public in 2013, when Pink opened up to Glamour about her relationship history. Mentioning the “It’s Gonna Be Me” singer, she told the magazine (via Us Weekly): “Joey Fatone was in love with me. He took me to Friendly’s on a date and he bought me an ice cream. Such a sweetheart. He asked my dad’s permission!”

She added in a later interview with James Corden that even though he would visit her at shows and invited her out, she just wanted to be cool with him. “We were in the friend zone,” she recalled.

Usher, Pink, and Lance Bass
Usher, Pink, and Lance Bass of NSYNC on the red carpet together in February 2001 in Los Angeles, California | Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images

Joey Fatone remembers some things differently

Fatone addressed his past with Pink in an appearance on People’s Defend Yourself, a game show where celebrities are asked to pick one of two items that they prefer.

When asked to choose between being friend-zoned by the Missundaztood singer or being in quarantine, he said: “I’m cool with being in the friend-zone with Pink. There’s nothing wrong with that. I’m OK with that. I’m OK with rejection. I mean, heck, I’ve been in NSYNC a lot, so yeah, I can take rejection. It’s definitely cool.”

Addressing Pink’s past comments about them, Fatone clarified, “I didn’t tell or ask her dad that I wanted to take her out and I loved her. If this is what you’re referring to here. I’m gonna set the record straight with her and I can go in and talk to her head-to-head.”

According to him, he hung out with Pink several times and became close to her. “I actually asked her out a few times and we went out. We were cool as heck. But I guess I wasn’t her type, so that was it. We were still friends. That was it!”

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Both would go on to date other people

Though a relationship wasn’t in the cards for them, both Fatone and Pink went on to find love with other people.

For his part, Fatone married his high school girlfriend, Kelly Baldwin, in 2004. They welcomed two children, daughters Briahna, 20, and Kloey, 11, before divorcing in 2019. Fatone told Us Weekly the following year that he was in a relationship with model Izabel Araujo, whom he began dating after he and Baldwin secretly separated in 2014.

Meanwhile, Pink is in a longtime relationship with former professional motorcycle racer Carey Hart, whom she married in 2006. Together, she and Hart share two children, daughter Willow, 9, and son Jameson, 4.

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