Sir Elton John sent Lance Bass a gift basket after he came out as gay

He told PEOPLE: "The most fun thing I got after I came out was a nice gift basket - I think on my front step - and it was from Elton John basically saying, 'Welcome to the club'.

"I was like, 'Wow, I got a welcome basket from the king of the gay mafia'. I'm like, 'I'm in!' I thought that was the most fun, welcoming basket you could ever get."

Lance revealed that although he was out to his family and friends, he was terrified of the repercussions for his career if he told the public he was gay.

He said: "That was at a time where social media wasn't so much of a thing and you could actually have more of a private life. No one was taking pictures everywhere you went. So it was kind of easy for me to live this kind of private life.

"I had a boyfriend, my circle of friends knew about me, and I just didn't think [my sexuality] was such a big deal.

"[But] I was so scared about what would happen in my life personally. I didn't want my family to get hurt by this.

"[It could be the] "complete death of my career. That's always what I was told: 'If you come out, you're done.'"

Speaking about how his relationship with his family changed after he publicly came out, Lance - who has two-year-old twins Violet and Alexander with his husband Michael Turchin - said: "I'm just one of those lucky people that had a family that supported me no matter what, even if they still don't understand it completely.

"It took them a while to understand it. And to this day, it's incredible. They accept us like no other."