Lance Bass received a gift from Elton John after coming out

Lance Bass tells People magazine that he was surprised by how much support he got when he finally came out as gay in 2006.

Lance, who is now married to Michael Turchin, with whom he shares two children, says when the original People article with his revelation came out, “everything in my life changed.” And while some of the changes were bad, like losing a sitcom, he was surprised by how much support he felt.

“I didn’t expect how positive the rest of the world would treat it,” he says. “The industry said, oh, well, we can’t use you now. But the public — they made it such a positive thing.”

He adds, “Once I was able to see that reaction, it made me feel so good that I wasn’t going to be hated.”

And some of that support came from music legend Elton John, who sent Lance a gift after the news broke.

“The most fun thing I got after I came out was a nice gift basket — I think on my front step — and it was from Elton John basically saying, ‘Welcome to the club,’” Lance shares.

“I was like, ‘Wow, I got a welcome basket from the king of the gay mafia,’” he adds. “I’m like, ‘I’m in!’ I thought that was the most fun, welcoming basket you could ever get.”