The Eighth Deadly Sin: Dating a Backstreet Boy
(c) 6/21/2001

They walk into the hotel room hand in hand. He sits down in the chair 
across from this interviewer and pulls her into his lap nibbling on her 
ear. Their surprising display of affection doesn't shock or astound. In 
fact it seems comforting and natural. One instantly knows the man: 
Brian Littrell of the Backstreet Boys. One recognizes the woman as his 
girlfriend, but no one is really aware of anything but her name: Becca 
Luttrell. Putting Brian's name into any Internet search engine yields 
thousands of websites. Putting Becca's name in yields the same number 
of sites only ninety percent of those for Becca are hate sites. The 
fans despise her. She has committed the eighth deadly sin: dating a 
Backstreet Boy.

**So how long have you two been together?

"Two years," they answer together. They laugh.

**How'd you meet?

Brian answers: "I met her at a party. It was..."

"In Los Angeles," Becca finishes. "It was a party for up-and-coming 
acts. I was there with another man."

"Her boyfriend. He was the talent; she was the arm candy. He left her 
alone and I dove in."

"Like a knight in shining armor coming to my rescue."

"Needless to say, she left with me."

"My 'boyfriend' and I were long since over at the time of that party. 
He just wanted someone to be on his arm. I was that someone."

"I knew from the moment I saw her that she was someone special." Brian 
kisses her cheek as I fumble for my next question.

**What was the rest of the group's reaction. Brian comes alone but 
leaves with someone.

Brian fields this one. "Oh they were shocked at first. AJ congratulated 
me; Kevin just reminded me of my upbringing. There was no reminder 
necessary. I just took her to coffee after the party and then took her 
home. Nothing happened, though everyone likes to think something did."

**When did he ask you to be his girlfriend?

Becca smiles at the memory. "Three days later, on our second date. It 
was actually very romantic and sweet. He was leaving the next afternoon 
and he took me out to dinner that night. It was a quiet little 
restaurant in the Valley. We were sitting there by candlelight staring 
into each other's eyes over the wineglasses. He suddenly asked my last 
name. When I told him, he immediately asked my background. I told him 
that my family had come to California during the Gold Rush and that we 
were originally from Texas. He heaved a huge sigh of relief and an even 
bigger one when I spelled my name for him. He then said, 'This may 
sound bold, being I just met you, but would you be my girlfriend?' I 
didn't even bat an eyelash before telling him yes. I love the way he 
pronounces our last names. The way he says them, they're different. The 
way I say them, they're the same."

**So let's get right down to it. Why do the fans hate you?

"Because I've committed the eighth deadly sin," she says with all 
seriousness. "I'm dating a Backstreet Boy. I'm kissing a Backstreet 
Boy. I'm sleeping with a Backstreet Boy. I say to the fans that Brian 
isn't available. The fact that he's happy, that we're happy, phases no 
one."

**How do you deal with it?

"I try not to let the fans run my life," Becca replies.

"Don't let her fool you," Brian adds. "She's spent many a night crying 
because the fans have made a low blow on a website. She's changed her 
phone number four times now. I try to defend her whenever I can. I 
guess that's why we're here. I just want the fans to stop." Brian 
pauses, and a tear runs down his cheek. Becca catches it on her finger. 
"I just don't get it," he continues, the pain seeping into his voice. 
"I mean, I just don't see why the fans can't accept the fact that I'm 
happy."

"You know why, Brian," Becca tells him, wrapping her arms around his 
shoulders. "We've got a major population of young girls out there 
upset. Granted, a lot of the older fans are supportive and trying to 
help in the problem, but it's not fun. I guess those are the breaks 
when you're dating a teen idol," she says to me.

Brian, who has been sitting there silent and unmoving while his 
girlfriend talked, suddenly lifts his head and looks directly at me. 
"If the death threats don't stop, I'll quit the group."

**This is serious then. There have been death threats?

"Tons," Becca replies, completely ignoring Brian's statement. It then 
hits her, what he's said. "Aw," she replies. "Brian, are you serious? 
Would you really quit for me?"

"Yes," he says softly.

I sit back and watch the two of them. This was obviously something they 
hadn't discussed; yet Brian had thought a lot about his statement, a 
whole lot more than the ten seconds it had taken Becca to talk.

"It's not just the fans," Becca says after a time. "It's my family as 
well. They hated the fact that I moved to Florida to be with Brian. My 
mom likes Brian don't get me wrong. But she doesn't like the fact that 
we're living together and sharing a bed."

With his eyes closed, Brian adds, "Becca keeps me grounded, level-
headed. We go to church together, pray together, share our lives." He 
opens his piercing blue eyes and stares at me. "We were lying in bed 
last night discussing this interview and she asked me if I'd love her 
if I wasn't a Backstreet Boy. I told her I would love her no matter 
what our circumstances were. She curled up beside me, sobbing. The 
anti-Becca sites, the hate campaigns really hurt. It's straining our 
relationship, but not in the way everyone thinks. It's only making us 
stronger, not pulling us apart."

**Why do you think the fans targeted your relationship and not, say, 
Nick's?

"It's more than popularity," Becca says. "If it was just that, everyone 
would be jumping all over Nick. But I think it's because Brian is seen 
as the religious churchgoer, the one with the Southern Gentleman charm 
and morals. The fans see me as trailer trash, as trying to move in on 
family money. They paint me as a slut, as corrupting his values, as 
'stealing his virginity,' as one fan zine says."

"I wasn't a virgin when I met Becca," Brian admits. "She didn't steal 
anything but my heart."

I know at that point, that this interview is over. I had interviewed 
Brian previously, and comparatively, he was a different person. Brian, 
or B-Rok as he is called, is usually hyperactive, trying to get laughs 
out of people. He is also usually more concerned about others than he 
is himself. This part of him hasn't changed. He is more concerned about 
his girlfriend's well being and safety than he is his career. Or maybe 
he *is* concerned about his career but realizes where his priorities 
actually lie: in his own happiness. Becca, for her roles in this 
situation, is very put together. She tells me after I tell her this 
that she was "trained" for this. The management obviously wanted to 
keep this as clean as possible. I think Brian admitting he'll quit if 
it doesn't stop just blew a hole in their squeaky clean handling.

I get up from my chair, collect my notes, thank them and head towards 
the door. As I reach for my exit, I glance back over my shoulder at the 
two of them. They have already crawled up on the queen-sized bed 
coddling each other. I smile as I leave quietly, knowing that no amount 
of death threats and hate mail is going to break that couple up.