Justin Calls Jessica Special as Ashley Olsen Hookup Rumors Fly

Wonderwall, Wednesday, June 1, 2011, 11:48am (PDT)

By Kat Giantis

"She is the single-handedly most significant person in my life." That's Justin Timberlake, opening up to the July issue of Vanity Fair about former girlfriend Jessica Biel. "In my 30 years, she is the most special person, OK? … I don't want to say much more, because I have to protect things that are dear to me -- for instance, her."

Still, when the pair called it quits earlier this year after four years of togetherness, the entertainer apparently began to re-evaluate his priorities, including starting a family.

"As little as six months ago, I wouldn't have even thought about that," acknowledges Timberlake, "but now it feels like a closer planet orbiting around."

Justin also talks candidly about his first love (and fellow Mouseketeer and denim-on-denim enthusiast), Britney Spears, whom he's fallen out of touch with since their 2002 breakup.

"I wish her the best -- that goes without saying. We haven't spoken in nine or 10 years," he admits. “We were two birds of the same feather -- small-town kids, doing the same thing. But then you become adults, and the way you were as kids doesn't make any sense."

Concludes Justin, "I won't speak on her, but at least for me, I was a totally different person. I just don't think we were normal; there was nothing normal about our existence. We spent way too much time being the biggest thing for teenyboppers."

Someone all too familiar with that situation is onetime "Full House" star Ashley Olsen, who may or may not have found common ground with Timberlake.

Us Weekly claims the onetime child stars turned fashion moguls have recently been "inseparable and flirty" in New York, where they've supposedly taken in a couple of Broadway shows, hung out at the Greenwich Hotel, hit a "Saturday Night Live" afterparty and attended a polo match.

"They are hooking up," declares an insider, with another snitch adding, "They're really trying to keep it on the down-low."

According to the mag, "The timing [is] ideal for a no-strings-attached romance."

You'll recall that Olsen called it quits with second-banana "Hangover" actor Justin Bartha around the same time Justin split with Jessica.

"[Ashley] was tired of waiting for him to settle down," a source sniped to Star.

And Mary-Kate's other half is well "aware of Justin's reputation with women," a spy informs Us, seemingly referring to how he's been romantically linked to everyone from his "Friends With Benefits" co-star Mila Kunis to a pair of Olivias (Wilde and Munn). "[But] they're in the same head space."

Shared noggin space or not, Timberlake's rep pooh-poohs to the mag, "They are friends. They are not romantically involved."

Then again, Justin did point out to Vanity Fair that there's a serious upside to pairing off with another celebrity.

"Why do you think we all like each other? Why do you think we wind up dating each other, and feeling more comfortable around each other?" he says. "We understand what it's like. 'Oh, thank God -- finally, somebody who knows how I feel.' It's refuge."

RELATED: Justin hangs with Mila, Olivia Wilde

RELATED: Cameron Diaz: Timberlake is 'frickin' weird'

RELATED: Justin and other celebrity booze endorsers

Read more Hot Gossip