It’s not every day that you get to hear about a flirtation gone awry, especially when it involves two well-known celebrities. Rachel Bilson, the 42-year-old actress, recently spilled the beans about her encounter with none other than Justin Timberlake, the 42-year-old NSYNC star turned solo artist. Their brief romantic moment happened way back in the early 2000s, and, as fate would have it, a friend of Rachel’s inadvertently doused the sparks.
During a recent episode of her podcast, Broad Ideas With Rachel Bilson, which aired on Monday, September 25, Rachel decided to share the juicy story of her connection with Justin back in the day. Her partner in podcasting crime, Olivia Allen, was along for the ride and added her own twist to the tale.
Rachel began with a chuckle, “In our day, [Justin] was very big, right? Like the biggest. Sorry, no disrespect – he’s still very big. We were all at a party or something, and he was there, and I was so obsessed with him.”
But then, she hesitated, leaving the audience hanging. So, Olivia, being the co-host with the inside scoop, took over the narrative, saying, “We were kicking it with him. We were making friends with him. [Rachel] went up to him, obviously, or he came up to [Rachel].”
And here’s where things get a bit cringe-worthy. Olivia proceeded to spill the beans on her part in the story, saying, “I got drunk and embarrassed myself a little because he was trying to flirt with Rachel. This is the truth. You want the truth. I was drunk and I [sat] between them. I was just drunk and wanted to keep talking to him.”
With a hint of humor, Olivia jokingly added, “He wasn’t mad at me. You might have been.”
So, there you have it, the scoop on Rachel Bilson’s almost-fling with Justin Timberlake, spoiled by a well-intentioned but slightly inebriated friend. As we all know, Justin eventually found love with Jessica Biel, tying the knot in 2012, while Rachel was in a long-term relationship with Hayden Christensen until they called off their engagement in 2017.
It’s a classic case of what might have been, but hey, we all have our share of quirky stories from our past, right? This one just happens to involve two famous faces and a friend who couldn’t resist being the third wheel in an unintentional love triangle. Life is funny that way, and even celebrities aren’t immune to the occasional awkward encounter.
