What Reunion? 'N Sync and The Backstreet Boys Were Barely on Saturday Night Live and People Are Fired Up!

Lance Bass warned fans earlier in the day that a performance wasn’t coming to the small screen

Let's be real: What the heck happened to that ‘N Sync and Backstreet Boys reunion?!

Fans of all ages completely freaked out over the weekend when the band behind "Bye Bye Bye" and "This I Promise You" tweeted about an appearance at Sunday's Saturday Night Live anniversary show.

"Together again…" the band teased fans. "Gee, it's good to be together again #SNL40." Sounds great, right? And when SNL confirmed the Backstreet Boys were attending as well, it was just the cherry on top.

But while watching Sunday's telecast, we were so bummed to see no boy bands on the red carpet show, onstage or even in the audience. So what's the deal?

A source tells E! News that a performance was never planned for the evening. Instead, a few of the guys just wanted to support the show's 40th anniversary.

Furthermore, some members from each band weren't even available to be in town. A source told E! News that JC Chasez's sister-in-law just gave birth leaving him to be close to family instead.

When it comes to the Backstreet Boys, AJ McLean and Howie D were the only members who tweeted about attending. In comparison, Nick Carter was hard at work recording new music elsewhere on Sunday.

But perhaps the biggest sign that an epic reunion wasn't going to happen came when Lance Bass tweeted hours before showtime alerting fans that Sunday night wasn't so serious after all.

"For the record, we are not performing or doing a skit tonight on SNL," he wrote on social media. "But look hard for us in the audience! Fun night ahead! #SNL40."

For better or worse, fans still had high hopes throughout the three hour plus telecast. But as expected, some were downright heartbroken to realize their dreams weren't exactly coming true.

If it's any consolation prize, at least SNL tweeted a photo of Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick on the red carpet together.

 And we did get an epic make out session involving Bradley Cooper and Betty White.

We know it's not the same, but let's try to be positive people! 

(E! and NBC are part of the NBCUniversal Family)

—Reporting by Marc Malkin

On the #SNL40 red carpet with @realjoeyfatone, @IamCKirkpatrick pic.twitter.com/zBO4rkweS3

? Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) February 16, 2015