The Backstreet Boys had secret crushes on members of the Spice Girls during their pop heyday.

The American band - which features AJ McLean, Howie Dorough, Nick Carter, Kevin Richardson and Brian Littrell - rose to international prominence around the same time as the iconic girl group, and Aaron has admitted to secretly fancying members of the Spice Girls, which included Mel B, Mel C, Victoria Beckham, Emma Bunton and Geri Halliwell.

He said: "I wasn't crushing on them as much as Howie. But they were all super cute and we were around each other a lot over in the UK.

"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."

AJ said he thought Victoria and Geri were "gorgeous", but claimed Howie talked about Emma "all the time".

Howie, who recently performed at a show alongside Emma, told 'Entertainment Tonight': "We were young and single, so I used to catch up with them at festival shows and go partying. We used to go to this place Momo, a Moroccan food place, and downstairs they have music and a band.

"Baby Spice was reminding me today about the last time we were all in the UK and she was like, 'Last time we were together, we were salsa dancing downstairs.'

"There must have been some alcohol consumed because I don't remember this too much! As she said it, I was like, 'Oh yeah, I kind of remember...'"

Meanwhile, the boys also revealed they would relish the chance to perform with the girls at some stage in the future, should they decide to reunite.

Howie said: "They're great girls, we respect them a lot and we'd love to do something with them in the future if it all works out. It would be a fun collaboration."