Lance Bass' mother was treated like her son had ''died'' when he revealed he is gay.

The former 'N Sync singer - who married partner Michael Turchin in December - admits his family back in Mississippi had to ''come out'' when he did but he was very proud of how his mom coped with the way she was treated afterwards.

He said: ''Coming out in the South, your family has to come out also.

''People forget about that. So my family went through it...My mom would go to the grocery store and strangers would be like, 'I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry.' Like I died or something.

''She just has a thick skin. She is very quiet and reserved.''

After some time had passed, Lance's mother decided to speak out about her 35-year-old son at the church she attends every week and the 'Bye Bye Bye' singer thinks she has made a huge difference to the attitude towards gay people in churches in the southern states of America.

Speaking on 'The Meredith Vieira Show', he said: ''She finally wrote an amazing letter to the congregation and that got picked up by the Huffington Post. It really started changing the dialogue in the churches in the south.''

Meanwhile, Lance has also revealed he received ''lovely messages'' from Justin Timberlake on his wedding day as his former bandmate was on the road and couldn't attend.

He joked on SiriusXM's 'Just Jenny' show: ''How dare he not cancel his last date on tour for us!

''I've always dreamt of my four brothers from 'N Sync being at my wedding to see me marry the person that I love but unfortunately it just did not work out... by one day...it did not work out.

''But you know, I had three of the other guys there. And that was nice. And he sent lovely messages the day of the wedding.''