It takes two to make a thing go right...

Jaymes & James captivated America as the hunky, relentlessly optimistic duo who wound up coming in second place on The Amazing Race. The guys were representing Chippendales, but they were hoping the million-dollar prize would help with the bills associated with Jaymes's dad's cancer. Sadly, his father passed away in March ("I got the best guardian angel in the world now," Jaymes says), but this duo's deep friendship has kept their personal and professional collaboration alive.

Today, Jaymes & James (who were innocent bystanders when Lance Bass made his concerned comments about Amanda Bynes, which led to another round of "ugly" comments from the troubled ex-starlet) are releasing their first single, the melodic thumper "Light Up the Skies," produced by Tanzer, and available at iTunes.

I spoke with the guys to get the latest on their plans...

 

Sitcom snipers

Sir Ian McKellen & Derek Jacobi only play catty gay partners on TV.

Help Alec Mapa fund his Baby Daddy documentary.

Female artists are on the rise.

Never-heard '85 Beastie Boys Q&A + Madonna chat.

Madonna was serving fish in 1992. Hook it.

Madonna "Gang Bang" footage.

Boyfriends remix RuPaul's "Cover Girl."

Pet Shop Boys U.S. tickets on sale.

The Presets/Dragonette tickets on sale for NYC gig.

Cher's mom Georgia Holt releases an album at age 86.

My Fair Wedding's David Tutera expecting divorce, twins.

The making of Behind the Candelabra.

OUT & ABOUT: Find gay-friendy tour operators abroad.

SF Pride chooses "corporate sleaze"?

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) supports gay adoption.

Out RBD singer/actor Christian Chavez & BF arrested.

James Franco's SM birthday cake.

Perfectly preserved, abandoned farmhouse.

Wallflowers has a new Bryce: Lucas Near-Verbrugghe.

Joey Lawrence pops weirdly huge bicep.

SHE'D RATHER BE IN PHILADELPHIA: Mariela Castro allowed in.

New Yorkers voice support for Jason Collins.

Collins speaks about his "mind-boggling" coming-out.

The Rubin Report asks Lance Bass & a Young Turk about Collins.

Lance Bass comes out in support of Jason Collins

Lance Bass meets up with The Amazing Race's second-place sweethearts, Jaymes and James.

Above and below: Newsies star Jeremy Jordan as captured in Out (May 2012).

Lance Bass and his boyfriend apparently want the world to eat their hearts out, as seen in Life & Style (May 21, 2012):

More after the jump...

This was my birth weight. More hot boys after the jump...

I almost didn't go to GLAAD's big bash in honor of New York's marriage-equality victory on Tuesday sponsored by ROKK Vodka, Delta and FV Events, but was drawn in at the last second and wound up having so much fun I almost put a ring on it.

Lance Bass used to bully other gay or gay-seeming kids to hide his own sexuality. Imagine being bullied by Lance!!!

Humor aside, I think he deserves credit for pointing out that bullying is not some unBELIEVably beyond-the-pale thing that only a fraction of people engage in. Come on—we have all said and done things that approach the definition of bullying; even one unkind remark can become one more verbal punch for someone who's endured countless others we didn't know about, right?

We could talk about how National Enquirer (August 23, 2010) is saying that Lance Bass is cheating on Lorenzo Martone with model Cedric Martinez, but isn't the bigger picture that it's got to be progress when a conservative-friendly tabloid like NE is treating a gay celeb's love life identically to how it would treat a straight celeb's love life? (With no respect at all.) Even more fun, NE notes that Martinez is "a hunk of hot French pastry" and chants "Cheaty-Cheaty-Bang-Bang" at Bass.

More of Lance Bass's sex-ay shoot at Trinity Boxing Club in NYC by Braden Summers is available now at VGLMen. 

Brody Jenner (so cute, such a douche) and NFLer Will Demps (never seen before, not unhappy to be seeing now) are portrayed as bachelors in classic scenes inside People (June 29, 2009).

Keep reading, though to see how People handled openly-gay bachelor (in most states, we have to be bachelors) Lance Bass without resorting to a same-sex scene...

In In Touch (October 13, 2008), Lance Bass gives an interview in on being openly gay in Hollywood in which he says, "It's scary for someone to come out because they know it will hurt their career—even now. It really does typecast you. In Hollywood, it really matters what your personal life is. It sucks that it's that way, but that's the reality."

More helpfully, he concludes, "To be able to be yourself is much better than getting that job you wanted." Sing it, brother.