If there's one thing we learned from classic rom-com She's All That, it's that dating someone for a bet is categorically not okay. We always found the story - which saw a high school jock date an unpopular artist in order to win a wager - a bit unrealistic. Who would do that in real life? Turns out Justin Timberlake would, and he brought Ryan Gosling along for the ride.
Jessica Simpson, American singer and one of our favourite reality TV stars of all time, has just released her new autobiography, in which she looks back at her life as a teen pop star, her journey into acting, and her relationships. They include a brief frisson with Justin, who she met as a child while auditioning for classic US kids' show The Mickey Mouse Club. She didn't make the cut, but Justin, Ryan Gosling, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera did.
'Throughout life we all found our way back to each other in ways,' she said on American TV as part of her promo tour. She . 'We were all in the same circuit. And I knew Justin Timberlake very well. After [my] divorce [to Nick Lachey] and [when] he was out of a relationship, he was over at my house and we shared a nostalgic kiss. And I thought, "Oh this is interesting."' But that wasn't it.
'And he took his phone out and started typing', Jessica continues. 'And I was like, "OK. I hope that's not another girl. Did I stick out my tongue too much?'" Apparently him and Ryan Gosling had a bet on who would kiss me first when they were 12 years old, and so he texted Ryan and said he won the bet. I was like, 'Oh, OK. So we don't kiss again? That's done,'" she said.
The idea of Justin Timberlake kissing someone for a bet makes us cringe. But the idea of Ryan Gosling, our beloved Notebook crush, is even worse. Then again, they were kids at the time. Hopefully they've learned a few things.
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