98 Degrees' Jeff Timmons Talks (On-Camera?) Reunion, '90s Nostalgia, and More!

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By Kelly Schremph, Hollywood.com Staff





If you were a young girl growing up in the '90s, chances are you probably owned every boy band paraphernalia known to man. CDs, backpacks, posters, concert stubs — you name it, girls had it (it was years before I ever saw the actual wallpaper in my bedroom). And chances are, one of those famous boy bands was none other than the contemporary adult group known as 98 Degrees, which featured four main vocalists: Nick and Drew Lachey, Justin Jeffre, and Jeff Timmons. So it's a safe bet that you likely squealed hearing that the four men would be heating up the state once again for una noche at the MixTape Festival in Hershey, Penn., this August.


News about this one night event spread like wildfire, leaving fans hoping and praying that a full-fledged reunion is underway like rumors earlier this year had suggested. But Timmons tells Hollywood.com that's not exactly the case. ""We actually had a tour mapped out for the summer time,"" Timmons says. ""It was a different tour. At the last minute, without a doubt, everyone wanted to do it, but for whatever reason we just didn't feel it was right, and I'm sure that fueled the rumors.""


Even without a full-out tour, though, the guys definitely wanted to reunite in some capacity, and Timmons felt MixTape presented the perfect opportunity. ""We had to get on the same page about what we wanted to do, whether it's one thing or a big thing,"" he says. ""Finally we decided, 'You know what? Let's give it a shot.' MixTape Festival is supposed to be amazing, huge, and if there's any time to get back together, this would be the time. This feels right, and we're all very excited about it."" As are the entire female population, no doubt.


Though fans may not be able to look forward to a tour, they can anticipate at least one new song — and perhaps even a reality show somewhere down the line. ""I've just been getting my personal life on track and making sure that I can be a dad, but I never left music. I've always been producing and writing music,"" Timmons tells us. ""Now that my kids are little bit older...I have the opportunity to get back into my career. And as far as reality television, we might be bringing a reality TV show out here to Vegas with my family and everything I'm doing here. So there's the possibility that will happen."" This could even include a behind-the-scenes look at the band's upcoming MixTape reunion. ""I'm sure it would be included if we do the one out here, that would be part of it,"" Timmons says. ""You never know. A lot of opportunities are opening up since we made the announcement, so there are things out there for us, and I'm just excited about the whole chance.""


Next: Timmons Talks Fashion Mishaps and His Future Career Goals.[PAGEBREAK]And as much as fans might be excited at the chance to see those ridiculous photo shoot outfits of the past at MixTape, don't expect them to make a modern comeback anytime soon. When asked about his most embarrassing outfit he ever had to wear for a photo op, Timmons assures us that the list is quite long. ""Have you seen our pictures,"" he says. ""We wore everything from jumpsuits, fireman outfits, bulletproof vests, silver suits. I could go on and on. They're all quite embarrassing."" And of course the photographers were always angling for them to take their shirts off (we thank them for that, by the way). ""We did it once, then it was over. Then everybody wanted us to it every time,"" Timmons says. ""The label wanted us to do it, they thought it was a marketable thing. Looking back, it really was. We had a fireman poster where a couple of us had our shirts off, and it was the highest-selling posters of that era."" And according to Timmons, it's still a common request even to this day. ""People still ask me today to take my shirt off,"" he says.


Timmons still has fond memories, though, despite the many fashion mishaps. And some of their songs are still very near and dear to his heart. ""I think my favorite song of our group would be the first one we ever released, called 'Invisible Man," Timmons shares, while also recalling a song he wasn't too particularly fond of back then called ""Can I Touch You There."" ""It was a little racy...that was my least favorite at the time. Now I really like it. I like all the songs, they have a special meaning to them, and each experience recording has a memorable, you know, some things that are very memorable about them.""


But Timmons has had a pretty busy schedule outside of 98 Degrees. For one, he continues to work on his solo career. ""I've been working on a record for a long time. I've got 100 songs, we're trying to narrow it down and figure out what we're gonna put out,"" he says. And starting June 29, Timmons will kickstart his new Las Vegas show WIRED, which will feature Timmons performing with a live band, plus an array of surprise celebrity guests and rotating musical acts.


And then, of course, there was that temporary stint as a Chippendale, which he describes as being ""the most fun I've ever had in my entire career."" In fact, after seeing some of the moves shown in Magic Mike, Timmons is almost positive that some of the routines were stolen right from a Chippendales live show. ""I spoke to some of the folks from the media here locally and they said yeah, some of the routines and songs they chose are down to a science with the Chippendales."" No complaints here (amiright, ladies?).


While big things continue to be on the horizon for Timmons, he continues to hope a new 98 Degrees album is somewhere in his future. ""I would love to do that. I think that would be the whole point of getting back together outside of this show,"" Timmons says. ""We would definitely have to break new music into the mix and I think that would have to be a requirement we would all want to be a part of."" And even though no big reunion tour has officially been booked, Timmons advises his fans to never say never. After all, ""You never know what can happen.""


Next: Jeff Timmons Takes Hollywood.com's '90s Pop Culture Nostalgia Quiz![PAGEBREAK]In addition to discussing his professional history (and future), Timmons graciously participated in one of Hollywood.com's quizzes, regarding his favorite '90s pop culture phenomena, including TV shows, music, and even Nintendo 64!


If you had to choose between the movies Austin Powers and American Pie, which would it be?


I don't watch a lot of TV or movies, but I've never seen the Austin Powers movies all the way through, any of them, so I'd have to go with the American Pie. I've only seen the first one of those.


Nintendo 64, or Playstation?


Playstation, no doubt.


Weakest Link or Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?


Who Wants To Be A Millionare.


Britney Spears or Christina Auguilera?


Depends on what you're trying to go for.


What's your thought process for that?


If you're going for vocals, you've got to go with Christina, if you're going for sexiness, you've got to go with Britney.


Deep Impact or Armageddon?


Deep Impact. I don't even know what that is. I haven't seen either one of those movies. I was watching kids movies all the time. I'll go with Armageddon, that has Liv Tyler in it, so I'll go with that one.


Did you ever watch Friends at all?


No, never, not one episode, I've never seen one.


I own all 10 seasons, I used to love that show. Rachel or Monica — that's Jennifer Aniston or Courteney Cox?


I'll go with Jennifer Aniston.


As far as hair, frosted tips or the Caesar cut?


Geez, wow, both of those are so bad! I pick neither, can I pick neither on that one?


Pick the lesser of two evils on that.


The lesser of two evils, although I never sported them, I'll go with the frosted tips.


Ricky Martin or Marc Anthony?


Ricky Martin's way cooler.


Boy Meets World or Full House?


I'll have to go with Boy Meets World on that one.


The Tamagachi or Gigapet? Do you remember those?


I remember the - is that the little egg that your program, or something like that?


They were those digital pets. The Tamagachi was more of an alien, the Gigapet was more of a cat.


I'll go with the Gigapet.


TGIF or Snick?


TGIF.


I used to love those Friday nights, watching those shows.


Jeff Timmons: We got to host, those TGIF on Disney, so I had to pick that one.