Podcast host Danny Pellegrino isn’t afraid to tackle the biggest Hollywood headlines in a game of Give Us Your Take.
For his first hot take, Pellegrino revealed that he thinks ‘NSync’s recent reunion was a “PR [stunt] to help Justin [Timberlake]” ahead of the release of Britney Spears’ bombshell memoir, The Woman in Me.
“I read the whole Britney book and there’s a lot of stuff about that man. … It was sad to me. I mean, all the stuff about a relationship with Justin, I just was thinking back to that time. We were all sort of obsessed with that relationship. I remember them showing up at the MTV Awards with the denim on denim,” the Jolliest Bunch author exclusively told Us Weekly. “I think there was a weird, sad nostalgia reading those passages.”
Timberlake, 42, was the subject of many of the book’s biggest revelations. Not only did Spears, 41, reveal that she got an abortion during their relationship because Timberlake was not ready to become a father, but she also claimed that he cheated on her multiple times and broke up with her via text. A source exclusively told Us last month that Timberlake was “disappointed” that his ex decided to “air out their very personal, dirty laundry” in her book.
Pellegrino, for his part, joked that’s “never been a huge Dustin Timberwolf,” and prefers his ‘NSync bandmate JC Chasez. “I love him so much,” the comedian, who even thanks Chasez in his book acknowledgments, added. “And I’m newly a Joey Fatone fan.”
While on the subject of drama between exes, Pellegrino spoke about Vanderpump Rules star Tom Sandoval’s split from ex Ariana Madix. News broke earlier this year that the former couple of nine years split after Sandoval, 40, cheated on Madix, 38, with their Bravo costar Raquel Leviss. As teased in the show’s season 11 trailer, the affair — which was subsequently dubbed “Scandoval” — will be one of the season’s biggest story lines.
“I’m very curious how they are going to edit [Tom] because he was the world’s biggest villain last season,” Pellegrino, who cowrote the former couple’s cocktail book, told Us. “And knowing Bravo the way that I do and you do, they always, the next season, usually, will edit them well, or it might take one more [season]. … [But you have to wonder], ‘Will they present him in a sympathetic way or will that come next season?’”
Pump Rules’ Ariana Madix, Tom Sandoval’s Relationship Timeline
Leaving their mark on reality TV. Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix found themselves at the center of drama after joining Bravo’s Vanderpump Rules. Viewers were initially introduced to Sandoval’s love life through his tumultuous relationship with Kristen Doute. Amid their on-and-off relationship, the former couple’s future was called into question when Madix came to work […]
While Sandoval and Madix are in for a rocky season of Pump Rules, one celebrity couple staying out of drama is Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. “I like it. I’m into it,” Pellegrino said of the duo’s new relationship.
Danny Pellegrino Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images
He went on to dub himself “a new Swiftie” before gushing over his experience attending Swift’s Eras Tour. “They must pump something in the air, in the oxygen, in those Era[s] Tour shows because I left there over the moon,” he joked. “I had the friendship bracelets on. I was buying the merch. I waited in line for the merch for two hours. It was like, that’s where I’m at now. So, I’m happy with their happiness. I find [Travis] sexy, too.”
Hear more of Pellegrino’s Hollywood hot takes in the video above. His latest book, The Jolliest Bunch: Unhinged Holiday Stories, a collection of tragically hilarious holiday mishaps, is out now.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi