You probably don't know it, but Justin Timberlake is jealous of you. After a laborious day at school, you can come home and curl up in front of the TV. You can spend the next few hours relaxing and watching soaps, cartoons, and all your favorite reruns. Unfortunately, that's something Justin just can't do these days. "I'm so busy," sighs the 18-year0old sweetie from Tennessee. "I don't get to watch a lot of TV now."
That's because Justin and his fellow group mates-Lance Bass, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone, and Chris Kirkpatrick-are usually way too busy to spend a few minutes vegging in front of the TV. Their days are so jam-packed with concerts, recording sessions, photo shoots and dress rehearsal, it's nearly impossible to sneak in a few minutes of tube time!
Not that Justin hasn't tried. "When we were in the studio doing [our 1998 self-titled debut album], I used to try to turn on the sitcoms and watch them," he recalls to BOP. However, the musical cutie decided that it was more important to focus on perfecting 'N Sync's tunes than laughing along with Friends reruns. Before long, he stopped turning on the TV in the studio.
Justin could slip some late night TV viewing into his schedule after he and his groupmates finish their recording sessions or their concerts. Yet by the time his day is done, this sleepyhead is way too tired to tune in to the tube. "I'm so beat, I get in my pajamas and I'm, like, out," he sighs.
So when Justin and his groupmates head home for a break, he can't wait to stretch out on the couch with the remote control and catch up on all the TV viewing he's missed. "I like that," he enthuses. "You know, just chill, veg out."
Although Justin likes to chuckle along with sitcoms when he is stressed out in the studio, he tells BOP that when he has lots of hours to loll around in front of the TV, he has much more fun watching sports-especially this month! "I watch a lot of TV, like ESPN, in March because NCAA basketball rules," he says.
Whenever Justin sits down to catch those basketball games, he's got to have a sweet and crunchy snack to munch. "I always eat when I watch TV," he confesses. "I get a big bowl of cereal and I'm sitting there going, 'Crunch, crunch, crunch!'"
Justin eats so much cereal (especially Cap'n Crunch and Apple Jacks) during his TV viewing that his mom, Lynn, often teases him about his fondness for his breakfast food. "She calls me Jethro because I always have a spoon that's like this big," he laughs, cupping his hands like a soup ladle. "And I have this big, huge Tupperware bowl that I fill up and just munch away."
However, Justin has been getting a little bored with this TV viewing routine lately. He's tired of nibbling crunchberries from the same ol' bowl every time he sits down to catch a basketball game. "You know what I want?" he asks. "I want to get one of those big, thick bowls and I want to get my name engraved on it-'Justin's Cereal,' or something like that." You could say that when Justin turns on the tube, it's not must-see TV, it's must-eat TV!