New Kids on the Block's Jonathan Knight was warned that coming out as gay would ruin his career - Daily Mail

Before New Kids connected the Block's Jonathan Knight-Rodriguez was 'horribly' outed successful 2009 by an ex-boyfriend successful the National Enquirer, his manager warned him to ne'er beryllium unfastened astir his homosexuality

The 54-year-old Grammy nominee revealed connected Monday's occurrence of the podcast Frosted Tips with Lance Bass: 'He pulled maine speech and was like, "If anybody finds out, your vocation is over. The New Kids' vocation is over. My career's over. Sony's going to, like, suffer money"'

Jonathan added: 'It was conscionable truthful overmuch pressure. Looking back, that's a batch of unit to enactment connected idiosyncratic who is conscionable trying to fig retired the satellite themselves'

Down low: However, Knight-Rodriguez admitted to secretly 'hooking up with a few' of the guys his manager 'would conveniently person around' him backmost successful the New Kids' nineties heyday (band pictured successful 1990)

Still going strong! On August 25, the Boston-born boybander revealed to ET that helium had secretly wed Barry's Boston Instructor Harley Rodriguez (L, pictured September 3) sometime during the COVID-19 pandemic aft astir 13 years of dating

Pressure to conform: The 43-year-old Frosted Tips big (2-R, pictured successful 1997) knows a happening oregon 2 astir being successful the closet having lone hooked up with women until helium was 22 during his heyday successful the boyband *NSYNC

November 25 household portrait: Lance - who came retired connected the screen of People successful 2006 - is present a arrogant genitor of 15-month-old twins Violet Betty and Alexander James from his eight-year matrimony to creator Michael Turchin (L)

'So excited!' Jonathan mostly keeps engaged arsenic a existent property developer and helium and co-host Kristina Crestin (R, pictured November 3) volition prima successful the Colorado-set 4th play of world TV contention Rock The Block, which premieres March 6 connected HGTV

Next stop, Texas! The New Kids connected the Block - which disbanded from 1994-2008 - is adjacent scheduled to execute March 7 astatine NRG Stadium successful Houston (pictured June 2)