Thanks to Jadefire and HatinSarahMartin for this info.

From the July 30th, 2002 edition of The National Enquirer, pg. 16

Backstreet Boy A.J. Getting Counseling BEFORE MARRIAGE! by Rick
Egusquiza

Backstreet Boy A.J. McLean has hit choppy seas in his romance with
fiancee
sara Martin, and things are so rough pals say the couple has been
forced to
get marriage counceling BEFORE they tie the knot, The ENQUIRER has
learned
exclusively.

"It's not good -- despite their plans ofr a splashy Valentine's Day
wedding,
A.J. and Sarah are having problems," a pal disclosed. "They've
resorted to a
therapist so they can get things back on track and make it down the
aisle.

"I hope they can go the distance -- they're giving the relationship
everything they've got."

The source told The ENQUIRER that 24-year-od A.J. and Sarah turned
to
counseling after a close friend told th em they needed to streng
then their
relationship before they wed. Friends worry that too much money and
fame is
causing cracks in the couple's relationship. They've been squabbling
over
how to handle their cash, and over the site for their February 14th
wedding.

"A.J.'s a tremendous success, but he's a recovering alchoholic with
simple
needs," explains the pal. "You'd never know he's this big music
star. It's
Sara -- not A.J. -- who's into all the Hollywood trappings. His fame
has
gone to HER head.

"Tensions boiled over when Sarah insisted on looking for another new
house
even though they just bought a place at the beach. In a little over
two
years they went from an apartment, to a leased mansion, to a great
big beach
house of their own. But they haven't even moved into the new place
yet and
Sarah's already begun looking for ANOTHER house. It's crazy."

And things got even more tense when Sarah convinced A.J. to dump his
beloved
mom as his mo ney manager and replace her with a professional.

"A.J. has always been a momma's boy, but Sarah kept saying his
mother wasn't
sophisticated enough to manage his fortune, so finally A.J. gave
in."

Not long afterward, a new problem arose when Sarah unexpectedly
changed the
site of their forthcoming wedding from Florida -- where A.J.'s mom
lives --
to California.

"Sarah decided on her own that she wanted the wedding held in
Hollywood, and
her decision to change their wedding left A.J. reeling," the pal
said. "It's
not so much that he cares where they tie the knot -- but his mother
does."

One day A.J. confided his worries to one of his AA pals, who
suggested that
before they went any further, he and Sarah needed to talk to a
counselor.

"So A.J. went to Sarah and told her he wanted them to get couple's
counceling," the pal said.

"Sarah wasn't pleased, but she knew A.J. meant business. They
recently found
a counselor and just began th erapy.

"It's gre at they're getting counseling, but it's a little scary for
their
friends to see them struggling already. At this point it looks like
anything
could happen. They're both very young and very much in love -- but
February
is still a long way off."




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