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CRUEL SUMMER’S Olivia Holt and Chiara Aurelia Play ’90s This or That

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Two “Cruel Summer” stars just settled the NSYNC vs. Backstreet Boys debate once and for all.

Freeform’s breakout mystery series “Cruel Summer” has spent its first season dragging viewers back to a very specific stretch of the early ’90s, and its two leads know the era better than most. Olivia Holt, who plays Kate Wallis, and Chiara Aurelia, who plays Jeanette Turner, sat down for a “90s This or That” segment that put their childhood nostalgia — and their opposing tastes — on full display. The show itself airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on Freeform and streams the next day on Hulu, building its tension across three consecutive Texas summers in 1993, 1994 and 1995.

• Holt and Aurelia both agreed denim-on-denim should stay buried in the ’90s, though Holt admitted she still reaches for a denim jacket.
• The pair split on nearly everything else: platform sneakers for Holt versus jelly sandals for Aurelia, Tamagotchis for Holt versus Furbys for Aurelia.
• On the NSYNC-versus-Backstreet Boys question, Holt picked NSYNC because of Justin Timberlake, while Aurelia sided with the Backstreet Boys and revealed a friend of hers is currently touring with the group.

Denim, Sneakers, and the Fashion Fault Lines

The “This or That” format is designed to expose exactly where two people’s taste in a given decade diverge, and Holt and Aurelia didn’t disappoint. Both actresses were unanimous that head-to-toe denim needed to stay in the past — a rare point of total agreement — though Holt made sure to clarify that a denim jacket is still fair game in her rotation. From there, the split widened: platform sneakers were Holt’s pick over jelly sandals, while Aurelia went the opposite direction, defending the jellies.

That same generational tug-of-war showed up in their toy debate. Holt sided with the Tamagotchi, the pocket-sized digital pet that turned ’90s kids into anxious caretakers, while Aurelia picked the Furby, the battery-powered gremlin that talked back whether you wanted it to or not. Neither actress budged on her choice.

The Boy Band Rivalry That Never Dies

No ’90s pop-culture rundown is complete without forcing someone to pick a side in the NSYNC-versus-Backstreet Boys war, and Holt and Aurelia handled it the way most fans of that era do — loyally, and with a personal reason attached. Holt went with NSYNC, pointing straight to Justin Timberlake as the deciding factor. Aurelia countered with the Backstreet Boys and added a detail that gave her pick some real-world weight: a friend of hers is currently out on tour with the group.

Holt picked NSYNC for Justin Timberlake, alone — no hedging, no other member cited.

It’s the kind of boy-band-era debate that’s been relitigated in living rooms and comment sections for two decades now, and “Cruel Summer” leaning into it fits the show’s whole aesthetic — a series built on VHS tapes, landline phones and pre-digital media doing the heavy lifting of its missing-girl mystery. For a deeper dive into how these rivalries played out beyond just NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys, the biggest boy band beefs ever is worth a look.

Accessories, Gadgets, and the Rest of the Nostalgia Checklist

Beyond the headline splits, the segment ran through the smaller artifacts that defined the decade for anyone who grew up in it — the chokers, the butterfly clips, the Dr. Martens boots that Kate and Jeanette’s own high school hallways would have been full of. Both actresses agreed chokers have aged well enough to justify their current comeback, and Aurelia admitted she still keeps a stash of butterfly clips in her bathroom, more than two decades after they first mattered.

The game closed on a movie matchup — “Clueless” against “10 Things I Hate About You” — and once again the two leads landed on opposite ends. Holt went with “Clueless,” pointing to Cher Horowitz’s wardrobe as the deciding factor, while Aurelia picked “10 Things I Hate About You” for its high school storyline hitting closer to home.

Nostalgia Enhances the Show

None of this is incidental to “Cruel Summer” itself. The series, which premiered April 20, 2021, uses its 1993-1994-1995 timeline and pre-smartphone props specifically to build dread — a missing girl, a shifting high school hierarchy, and no cell phones or DNA swabs to speed up the truth. Holt and Aurelia trading answers on Tamagotchis and jelly sandals is essentially a victory lap for a show that turned its production design into a character in its own right. Anyone catching up on the series can find new episodes streaming a day after air on Hulu.

Aurelia’s friend touring with the Backstreet Boys is the detail that’ll stick — it’s the kind of real-world tie that turns a promo game into something fans actually remember, long after the denim-on-denim jokes fade.