Nick Carter: “Being a dad has given me purpose”
Backstreet’s back! But Nick says he’s ditched partying for daddy duties, and reflects on the boys’ 25-year friendship
Floppy-haired, blue-eyed Nick Carter was just 16 years old when the Backstreet Boys hit the big time. As the youngest member of the five-piece boy band, his pretty boy looks made him a teen idol and it wasn’t long before he made his millions – so it’s little surprise he went off the rails once he was introduced to the showbiz scene.
WILD ANTICS
In the early 2000s, Nick became addicted to drugs and alcohol, and later alleged his party-loving girlfriend at the time, Paris Hilton, was a bad influence.
“Paris was the worst person in the world for me to hook up with,” he recalled in his 2013 autobiography, Facing The Music And Living To Talk About It. “During the height of my problems, I did ecstasy, cocaine and drank a large bottle of vodka a night. It could’ve ended in tragedy.”
Now teetotal and a father to two-year-old son, Odin, with his fitness instructor wife Lauren Kitt, Nick, 39, wants to leave that past life firmly behind him and refuses to speak about his socialite ex. He and Paris do not keep in touch, he firmly says. In fact, as the Backstreet Boys prepare to tour this summer, he reveals how his life couldn’t be more different.
“It’s a lot calmer now,” he tells us from his Las Vegas pad. “I’m currently waiting for my son to wake up. I make him breakfast, read him books – I’m very hands-on with him.
“Being a dad is my favourite job. Because I was the youngest in the band, I saw how the other guys were when they became dads before me, but I never understood how well-rounded having a family makes you.
“Being a dad gives you purpose. Before, I’d be out on the road spending money or buying a new car, but now the cash I make is for my son’s future.”
STILL GOING STRONG
Thanks to the success of the band’s two-year residency in Las Vegas, the boys have released a new album, DNA, and in May will embark on a three-month tour across America and Europe. Not bad after 25 years in the business.
“It’s because we’re such good friends outside of performing,” says Nick. “And our wives and kids are, too. They’ll be coming on tour with us, so it’ll be BSB extended version!” The album DNA is out now