Jess gathered her things and went down to the lobby to find her ride. She arrived at Harpo Studios, and was met by one of the producers. She was briefed on what to expect. Then she was off to make-up, hair, and a break. Before she knew it, she was ushered out into the studio and she came face to face with Oprah in front of the studio audience.
Oprah welcomed Jess to the set and the cameras started to roll. Jess watched the screen which showed the footage that Oprah was doing a voice over for. It was clips of the Girlfriend video, some with Jess and Josh with their faces pressed up close to each other as well as some of them dancing.
"Jess Crosby was cast to play the girlfriend of JC Chasez in the latest NSYNC video. She's received a lot of attention in the media due to reactions of NSYNC fans to her appearance." Oprah went on to talk about what Jess did for a living and how she had responded to the media attacks on her. There was a commercial break. When that ended, Oprah introduced Jess to the audience. She was no longer nervous, she felt comfortable talking with Oprah.
"Jess, in any interviews that Nsync has given about you, they have stated that you are a close friend of them. How did that happen?"
"Well, it all started with Josh. When he started on Mickey Mouse Club, his tutor asked a friend of my teacher if they knew anyone who would be a good pen-pal for him. She suggested me, and we started writing back and forth. We learned about each other's countries (I'm from Canada), and became really good friends."
"Now when you refer to Josh, you mean...?"
Jess smiled, "JC. Sorry. When we first started writing, he was still going by Josh and that's what I still call him."
"And JC introduced you to the rest of NSYNC?"
"Yes. I met them when they came to Canada and JC invited me to a show."
"I understand you worked for them as well, tell me about that."
"Yes, I did work with them for a few months on tour. I actually worked with their production company doing a lot of running around behind the scenes. It was crazy and I loved every minute of it."
"Now, Jess, how did you get cast in this video?"
"JC asked me to play his girlfriend, and I told him I didn't want to. I'm pretty shy and the idea of being on camera terrified me. But JC asked me to reconsider. He told me I was the kind of girl he could see himself with and I finally said yes."
"How was it filming these scenes with him?" (Pictures of JC and Jess in the video showed on the screen).
"It was actually really hard to do. I love JC, but not romantically. He's one of my best friends and people say we're like brother and sister, so to film a scene where we're supposed to be in love was difficult. We kept cracking each other up."
Oprah paused for a commercial break and assured Jess that she was doing fine. When the break ended, Oprah went in for the kill.
"Y'all know that weight issues have plagued me throughout my career, now Jess, I'd like to know your reaction to the media attention surrounding your weight."
Jess swallowed hard and wiped her hands on her knees, a bad nervous habit that she couldn't break. "I was surprised at first. I didn't expect it to be an issue, and when it was, I was hurt. I've always been the big girl, the heavyset, ‘chubby' kid, and I was teased all through school, so hearing it play out in the media made me feel inferior. It felt like my weight was the only thing that people saw about me."
"What changed how you felt about it?"
"There were a few things that changed how I felt about the media reaction. The first is that I remembered that my weight is only a part of me, not the whole. I remembered all the good stuff about me and that my friend wanted me in the video. JC chose me to be there with me and you know what?" She smiled, "JC has good taste! And of course, five of my very close friends called me to make sure I was OK and to tell me that they loved me. I also realized that my weight isn't really a problem. I mean, it could become one, but right now, I'm in a healthy weight range which means that the ones with the problem were the ones who were saying I was fat. They were the ones who saw a healthy girl as being abnormal. They viewed underweight girls as beautiful and that harms other regular healthy girls."
"Well, Jess, those five friends of yours have a few things to say to you."
Jess turned and watched the screen Oprah indicated.
JC was first. "Jess has been one of my closest friends for most of my life. I asked her to play the part of my girlfriend in the video because she is the kind of girl I can see myself with. She is such a fun person. She cares about people and she makes a difference in their lives. I think that is part of what makes her such a beautiful person."
"Jess is a great friend," Joey started. "She is one of those people that you know you can go to any time to talk and she'll listen. She really listens. And she's got these gorgeous blue eyes-they're even prettier than Justin's," he laughed.
"Hey!" Justin pretended to hit Joey. "Well, I guess you're right, her eyes are pretty. And Jess is beautiful. She really is. She treats me as an equal, which is more than I can say for these guys and she really cares about her friends."
Lance smiled. "My turn, huh? Well, Jess knows how I feel about her. She's a wonderful lady and I'm proud to number her among my friends."
The camera panned to Chris. "Jess is a beautiful woman. She's got this sparkle to her that just draws you to her, and she's got this killer smile," he smiled.
Oprah smiled. "And Jess, the guys sent a surprise here to the studio for you."
The music for "God Must Have Spent (A Little More Time on You)" started playing, and Jess watched in disbelief as the door at the back of the sound stage opened and Justin came walking down the aisle, singing. He carried a yellow rose in his hand. Other doors opened, and each of the guys made their way to the stage singing the song. As they reached Jess, each guy handed her a different coloured rose, gave her a huge hug, and kissed her cheek. The last one was Chris. The smile he gave her was electrifying. The rose in his hand was red. Her heart did a somersault.
When they finished singing their song, Jess was standing between Chris and Joey, both of whom had an arm around her. Oprah smiled. "So, Jess, are you surprised to see NSYNC here?"
Jess nodded, and tried to wipe a stray tear away. Justin reached over and put a tissue in her hand. "Yes. They told me they couldn't be here today because they had a show." She looked at them, "Please don't tell me you cancelled a show to be here, I've been in enough trouble with your fans."
Lance smiled. "No, we didn't cancel any shows. We just did some artful dodging to get you here when we had a couple of days off."
Oprah took another break for commercials and seats appeared out of nowhere for the men. Jess and JC were seated next to each other with the others all around.
After the break, Oprah started in on the guys. "JC, tell me about how it felt when your friend who you chose to act with you was treated this way."
JC sighed. "To be honest, it broke my heart. I couldn't believe that people who didn't even know Jess were judging her and making such unfair comments about her. But then, I realized that they must be crazy, because as anyone can clearly see, this woman is beautiful!" JC stood up and pulled Jess up beside him. He spun her around while the audience cheered.
Jess gave JC a playful shove in the arm and sat back down.
"Now, JC, just to be clear, are you two an item?"
JC and Jess looked at each other and laughed. "No ma'am. I love her very much, but not that way. And I know the feeling is mutual."
Oprah nodded. "And I'll bet that any girl you date has to pass muster with Jess here."
"Of course," he grinned. "And I check out all her dates as well. We're friends, we take care of each other."
Oprah asked all five of the guys more questions, including the inevitable questions about who was currently single and what it was that they found attractive in a woman. She then approached the audience for questions and comments. A girl a little younger than Jess was chosen.
"I....I just want to say ‘thank you'. Seeing you in that video made me realize that I'm not fat, I'm perfectly healthy and beautiful." She flashed a huge smile.
Jess got up and hugged her. "You are beautiful," she agreed.
During the last break, Jess was able to hug each of the guys again and thank them for their support. Once again, Chris was last. She looked up at him, suddenly shy.
"Thanks for the roses, Chris. You really made my day," she whispered.
He smiled as he bent down to hug her. "You're welcome. By the way, these five finish off the dozen. And you haven't forgotten your promise, have you?"
They were coming back from break, Jess only had time to shake her head.
Chris winked at her, and she smiled.
"We're back and NSYNC has another song they'd like to sing for y'all!" Oprah announced happily. "Take it away, boys!" Oprah left the stage leaving Jess trying to figure out what was going on. Her head flit back and forth as if watching a tennis match. Should she duck to the right or the left? The music started, and before Jess dove into the wings, Justin took her hand and pulled her close to him. She looked at him with a confused expression on her face. He winked and said,
"You know I like you right? But will you be my girlfriend?" He drew her close to him and led her in simple dance steps that she could follow.
Josh came up on her other side, and when his line came up, he drew Jess away from Justin and towards him. Justin would reach out and pull her back to him, then Josh would turn her around again. During the chorus, the other three got into the act, trying to get Jess to themselves.
Jess was laughing the whole time and so was the audience. The guys were such goofs. She had fun dancing with them and it felt really good to flaunt the fact that regular girls are truly beautiful.
Oprah came back to close the show, thanking her guests for being there. As the credits were rolling, the guys went out to the audience to shake some hands and sign some autographs. Several young girls approached Jess and asked for her picture and autograph as well which she found somewhat amusing.
Story Tags: celebritysync jc chris
