Britney who? 'N Sync frontman Justin Timberlake's on-again-off-again romance with Britney Spears was very definitely OFF when my spies saw him in action over 24 hours. Cost him and three of his bandmates $200,000 in Vegas strippers, booze and gambling chips, but it sure sounded worth it. One Sin City insider called the partying "one of the biggest blowouts in the pas 10 years."
The wildly popular boy band -- Timberlake, JC Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick, Lance Bass and Joey Fatone -- performed a sold-out concert at Vegas' MGM Grand March 15.
But it sounds like the real show started afterward, after Fatone flew home to Orlando, Fla., to be with his new baby. The rest of the boys, however, headed straight for the casino and then a party with stripper babes.
With Timberlake -- who turned the legal drinking age in January -- described as the ringleader, the one-time squeaky-clean teenybopper idols first worked their way through a whopping $150,000 in just 24 hours. That money, brought by the band into Vegas in two briefcases stuffed with $100 bills, bought them an impressive array of food, including specially flown-in Maine lobster, caviar and fine seafood, Cristal champagne, limos and frequent trips to the high-stakes tables.
Timberlake was pretty lucky at craps, losing "only" 20 grand, then another 10 while trying to get his original money back, according to an eyewitness.
"When a passerby quipped he maybe needed Britney after all, Justin snapped: 'There's always some jerk in the house,' " the witness said.
And if Timberlake felt any remorse over his bust-up with buxom Brit, it wasn't crying that he was doing on the shoulders of the equally busty strippers rounded up for a post-concert VIP party at the nearby Palms Resort.
"Beauties in skimpy outfits were gyrating just inches from his face," a fellow partier reveals. "Justin kept craning his neck, straining to get a better view. Eery few minutes he'd throw $100 bills in the air and shout: 'God Bless America!' The girls would scramble on all fours to scoop up the cash."
In the morning, the stars tallied up their scores.
"Justin was behaving like a man possessed," an insider says. "In the morning, JC was boasting he'd notched up three girls, but Justin laughed and said he went one better."
When all the moolah was gone, the boys stunned onlookers by demanding from a lackey that $50,000 be wired to them -- like hurry up, please! -- so they could continue.
"It was great for the local economy," a casino insider gushed. "I hope we'll see them again real soon."
Timberlake better hope Britney feels the same way.
