'N Sync's no-show at Saturday Night Live TV special explained

The members of 'N Sync have clarified reports suggesting they were planning a reunion on the Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary TV special on Sunday (15Feb15), revealing they simply regrouped behind the scenes.

A tweet from the band's official account left fans believing there would be a major get together in New York as part of the show, and when Justin Timberlake opened the special with Jimmy Fallon, devotees were convinced there would be a big moment ahead.

But the reunion wasn't part of the three-and-a-half hour show, and neither was a performance from the group's boy band rivals the Backstreet Boys, which was also rumored.

Many missed Lance Bass' tweet just before the special, when he made it clear he and his former bandmates would all be at the SNL TV special, but not on stage.

He wrote, "For the record , we are not performing or doing a skit tonight on SNL. But look hard for us in the audience! Fun night ahead!"

Indeed, Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick posed for photographs together and Kirkpatrick posted a selfie featuring himself, Fatone and Backstreet Boys stars Howie Dorough and A.J. McLean on social media, alongside the caption, "The boys are back in town!"

Bass was also spotted on the red carpet, posing with former SNL cast member Cheri Oteri.

Fatone told news show Access Hollywood, "Here's the reality of it, to be honest. Justin's here. We were all supposed to be here, but actually with the weather and everything else, JC (Chasez) could not be here. There was no performance (planned)."

In fact, flight cancellations that brought large parts of the east coast to a standstill over the weekend almost wrecked any 'N Sync get together in New York.

Fatone explained, "My flight got canceled on Saturday night and I had to come in on Sunday."

And Kirkpatrick added, "It's freezing up here right now. Floridians don't understand this... We lost our luggage. I freaked out."