EXCLUSIVE: Backstreet Boys Treat Their Career 'Like a Marriage' -- 'We Go to Counseling'

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Backstreet is certainly back, alright.

Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, AJ McLean and Kevin Richardson took a break from rehearsals for their upcoming Larger Than Life Las Vegas residency gig to sit down with ET's Nischelle Turner and reveal their surprising secret to staying in harmony for more than two decades.

"It's like a marriage," Richardson confessed, with his bandmates quickly echoing the sentiment.

"We go to counseling," Carter added, revealing that it was Dorough who came up with the idea. "We talk things out," he explained.

"It's so funny -- as time goes on, the issues kind of add up," Carter said. "But it's like family."

Richardson chimed in to note that a manager had first suggested the idea early in their career, but it took 24 years for them to follow through. "One of our first managers suggested, 'You guys better get into therapy now, because you're going to need it later,'" he recalled.

"It's a safe place for us to communicate," McLean added.

"We talk it, we box it out," Littrell continued, "and whatever we got to do, we get it out."


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The group's Larger Than Life show kicks off on March 1 at The AXIS theater inside Las Vegas' Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino -- the same venue where Britney Spears has been performing her Piece of Me residency for more than three years.

"For us, we've done so many great things [that] there aren't a lot of things left out there," Dorough said. "So, Vegas residency for us makes a lot of sense, because a lot of our fans are now at the age where they're getting married, they're coming off the bachelorette parties, bachelor parties, birthday parties, and Vegas is like the hot spot to be at. So why don't we just join our fans there? ... And as well as international, you know, our fans from all around the world. Vegas is a hot spot to come to in the states."

"The best part is they come to us," Littrell added.


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The guys will have the support of their families on this new venture, with their wives and children all planning to join them in Las Vegas. With one notable exception...

"I'm a little bit stressed right now because my wife and I are expecting [baby] number two," McLean said. "Within the next two weeks! I just hope we're not in the middle of our show when this goes down."

McLean said that if his wife, Rochelle, does go into labor while he's onstage, his mother-in-law will be on hand to drive her to the hospital.

"I'm kind of in freak-out mode because I don't want to miss it," McLean admitted. But luckily, he has his bandmates' full support.

"He's going to have to get on a plane," Carter insisted.

"Quickest of all quick outs, yes," McLean joked.

Fatherhood has certainly had its impact on BSB's priorities -- and that hilariously includes their backstage riders! These days, the guys ask for protein shakes, wheat grass, fruit and Emergen-C over alcohol and junk food.

"Backstage, we have the room that used to be the friends and family room, stocked with alcohol and, like, a cool vibe. [It's] now become a day care room," Richardson confessed, with McLean and Littrell noting that they are fully stocked with cribs and diaper changing stations backstage -- plus Ibuprofen and Ace bandages for themselves.

"Oh, we hurt. We hurt right now," Carter joked.

"But, just so the fans know, OK, let's make it clear! This Vegas show, we are dancing like the Millennium tour," Littrell interjected. "Like 1999."

So what can fans expect from the high-octane show?

"All the hits and then some," Dorough said. "We're doing all our fan favorites, plus we've actually thrown in a couple of our favorites. And we're just going to put on a show that's larger than life."


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