Nick Carter admitted that the Backstreet Boys had crushes on the Spice Girls, and we’re mourning what could have been

If you thought that Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake were a pop music match, just wait until you hear this. Nick Carter admitted that a bunch of the Backstreet Boys had crushes on the Spice Girls, and we can’t even imagine how perfect that would have been.

Carter has been working with “Baby Spice” Emma Bunton on the show Boy Band, and according to Carter, the two have known each other for quite some time. But Carter was quick to rat out Howie Dorough for being the bandmate who thought she was super cute back in the ’90s.

"I wasn’t crushing on them as much as Howie," he said in an exclusive with Entertainment Tonight. "But they were all super cute and we were around each other a lot over in the U.K. There were so many parallels, and I like to say it was us, the Spice Girls and Hanson who really broke pop radio around that time, so there’s a bond that’s there, even though we haven’t spent a lot of time together."

 Even so, he got to know Bunton a lot better based on the show.

"Now that I’ve done the show with Emma, she really knows who I am and I know who she is as a person now, and that’s really special," Carter added.

Dorough wasn’t the only member of the Backstreet Boys to admit feelings. A.J. McLean added that he was a little bit smitten with Victoria Beckham and Geri Halliwell around that time.

Speaking of Dorough, he admitted that he wouldn’t rule out a collaboration with the girls in the future. We’d totally buy tickets to that tour.

We can imagine how nice it must have been to tour around with individuals who also understood the industry. And while nothing came of these crushes, it’s pretty amazing that both the Backstreet Boys and the Spice Girls continue to have so much respect for each other.