The 10 Biggest 90s Teen Heartthrobs That Every Millennial Loved

Girls taped their pictures to their walls and guys wanted to be them. They were the hottest of the bunch, with full sized posters exposing their chest and abs hidden in the trashiest celeb magazines (Tiger Beat anyone?). Yes, I’m talking about the 90s teen heartthrobs we couldn’t get enough of back in the day. And believe me… there were a lot of hotties back then (with fantastic hair). Or at least we though there were. Nowadays some of these dudes might look like aliens to us… and some of them still might make us want to take our clothes off… but no matter what, they were all the rage back then.

Here are the 10 biggest male teenage heartthrobs of the 90s.

1. Taylor Hanson

Our first 90s teen heartthrob is Taylor Hanson, who girls f*cking loved. Taylor and his Brothers emerged from a pile of dust in Oklahoma (because that’s all there is in Oklahoma) in 1997 and became overnight celebrities with their hit MMMBop. They had a few other hits… and then of course went out of the public eye and into the obsessed eye… Because no one is just a Hanson fan…. They are die hard obsessed Hanson fans. But these die hards were kind of smart because the Hanson bunch blossomed to actually become good looking dudes – Taylor being the hottest. And yes I actually said ‘hot.’

2. Nick Carter

Why? Why did we find Nick Carter to be the epitome of attractive? I guess because he was a blonde who could sing… and dance too, just not as well as JT… and that’s pretty much all we cared about back then, so it worked. We loved Nick so much that we later welcomed his younger brother Aaron with open arms to the teen idol gang. We did this even though his attempted raps about having parties with no parents home were not that good. The Carters must have had us under some crazy spell brought on by the below rose.

3. Brian Littrell

Brian was my favorite member of BSB. This was simply because Brian was a brunette and Nick Carter was a blonde… and, duh, I like brunettes way better than blondes. So I became obsessed with Brian and drew hearts around his face on posters and CD covers. And as weird as this may sound now, it was very much normal back then because I was a child. Brian, now, is not hot but is also not ugly. He just looks like an average middle aged man. He does still have nice eyes though.

4. Lance Bass

In keeping up with my ‘not-going-after-the-lead-guy-in-a-band‘ thing (I liked Brian over Nick), I obsessed over Lance Bass. For some unknown reason, I thought Lance Bass was the most attractive human being to ever walk planet Earth. I believe this is because everyone else loved Lance Bass and I, like any average pre-teen, followed the crowds and liked what (and who) everyone else liked.

5. Freddie Prinze Jr.

Freddie found fame due to the success of the not-so-scary movie franchise, I Know What You Did Last Summer. It wasn’t until She’s All That that we all went nuts over him though. He played the typical teenage popular jock role as seen in almost every movie created in the 1990s, except instead of being an ass the whole time, Freddie showed his true colors when he fell for loser Laney Boggs (what a name). The movie commences with prom and all of us girls envisioned our proms being just as cool and our dates being just as hot as Freddie. FPJ went out with the early 00s, but that’s okay because he’s now married to Buffy Sarah Michelle Gellar and they have two kids together. Two 90s teen heartthrobs who found love! How sweet!

6. Rider Strong:

Rider AKA Shawn Hunter was super effing hot. From his hair to his clothes, this kid had everything going for him… except for the fact he lived in a trailer park. But this made him sooo much more mysterious and badass. And what teen girl doesn’t like a troublemaker? After Boy Meets World ended, Rider actually decided to meet the world too – like for real. He went to Columbia and graduated magna cum laude as an English major. And now, he looks like a huge f*cking creep. College is supposed to do you better… But I guess for Rider, it did the opposite. Oh well. At least you were once a regulation hottie.

7. Jonathan Taylor Thomas

JTT was probably one of the most precious teen idols to ever exist. He didn’t only have the hair and the looks – but he had the voice too (hello young Simba – roar). Jonathan was Tim Allen’s son on Home Improvement for like a million years and was the one and only reason we actually put up with watching Tim Allen make horrible jokes on a regular basis.

8. Leonardo Dicaprio

‘I’ll never let go, Jack.’ Well guess what Rose? You let go. And you let loose one Leo Dicap who is still hot, if not hotter than before. When I think of Leo, I don’t think of The Departed or Shutter Island… or even Great Gatsby and Django Unchained… I think of TITANIC. And Teen mags covered with a mix of Leo’s abs and Celine Dion. Leo was the epitome of beauty in the 90s. Not so much anymore (I mean he’s still good looking, but he’s got some fierce competition), but back then he had it all. And, umm, Rose… I would have never let go.

9. Nick Lachey

Nick was actually my number one pre-teen (slash teen… slash adulthood) crush. He was hot, muscular, and had really cool hair. Before I knew I was going to be sexually attracted to men like this, I was sexually attracted to Nick Lachey. If he asked I probably would have slept with him at 12 years old. NBD. He eventually married Jessica Simpson, and even though they were kind of a much hotter couple than Brit and Justin, they certainly weren’t as cool. But to me they were. Until Jessica thought tuna was chicken on their reality show ‘Newlyweds’ and I realized he must have only liked her for her looks… therefore making him an asshole… therefore making him sooo my type. Then I liked him even more. The best part is that Nick is hotter now. And not married to Jessica Simpson, but instead to Vanessa Minnillo. And I hate her. JK, I’m just super jealous and still obsessed with him… but it’s fine.

10. Justin Timberlake

No 90s teen heartthrob list can be complete without mention of the one, the only Justin Timberlake. JT was our JB (Justin Bieber), except he was way more talented (duh) and not Canadian. JT also famously dated Britney Spears, the female teen hottie of the time. Even though I personally thought (and think?!) Nick Lachey is hotter, JT wins this race as the most popular teen hottie on the list!!!