EXCLUSIVE: Backstreet Boys Talk Fatherhood and Seeing Nick Carter as a Dad: 'It's Trippy!'
As they prepare to kick off their Larger Than Life residency at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas on Wednesday, the Backstreet Boys are opening up about fatherhood and how “trippy” it is to see youngest member Nick Carter as a dad!
ET’s Nischelle Turner was at the GRAMMY-nominated group’s rehearsals, where Carter had just brought his 10-month-old son, Odin, to watch him at work for the first time.
EXCLUSIVE: Backstreet Boys Treat Their Career ‘Like a Marriage’
“I brought him for the first time to see what Daddy does and it was crazy because we were sitting there trying to improve some vocals and preparing our show and he just started singing and jabbing,” the 37-year-old singer and actor gushes. “I'm like, ‘Really?’ It’s so surreal to have a baby and to be in this situation, but it's great because we're a big family. I'm experiencing all the new fatherhood things while I'm on the job.”
Carter isn’t the only one who finds it surreal to be a parent.
Having watched the Dead 7 star overcome years of addiction, family turmoil and heartache, the rest of the guys are thrilled, but tripping out seeing him as a parent.
“It's really surreal seeing Nick actually holding a baby,” confesses Brian Littrell, who has a 14-year-old son, Baylee.
“That's the trippy part,” says AJ McLean, dad to 4-year-old Ava and another baby girl due next month.
“It's like a baby holding a baby!” pipes in dad of two, Howie Dorough.
Jokes aside, the quintet credit having children for making them better men.
Once taking pride in his bad boy status, McLean now proudly sees himself as a great role model for his daughter.
“I love being my little girl's hero,” notes the 39-year-old singer and actor. “It's the greatest thing in the world. It makes me want to be a better father, a better husband, a better person. She is the spitting image of me [with] her personality and it's the coolest thing in the world. To be a dad is the best job in the world.”
Dorough, who has two sons, James and Holden, says becoming parents has also kept them grounded in an industry full of self-centeredness.
“I think becoming dads has probably balanced us all out,” shares the 43-year-old Orlando native. “Brian has said in the past [how] this career of ours can truly make you about yourself, and kids teach you how to be selfless.”
“It puts things into perspective,” adds Littrell, 42. “Life comes full circle really fast when you're looking at your own child and to love your child like you've seen us love ours is like, ‘Oh I get it, I understand it now.’”
The group, which also includes father of two Kevin Richardson, also talked about why they see their relationship as a marriage and attend counseling together.
Check out the video below, then go book those Vegas tickets!
Related Gallery
