June 1, 2026

Episode 1 | Notorious: The Shocking Life of Britney Spears

Episode 1 | Notorious: The Shocking Life of Britney Spears

A 3-Part Podcast Series Episode 1: From Kentwood to the World Before she was the Undisputed Princess of Pop, Britney Spears was a determined young girl from Kentwood, Louisiana, singing in church choirs and entering local talent pageants. In the first...

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Season 1
A 3-Part Podcast Series
Episode 1: From Kentwood to the World
Before she was the Undisputed Princess of Pop, Britney Spears was a determined young girl from Kentwood, Louisiana, singing in church choirs and entering local talent pageants. In the first episode of this three-part series, Jim Chapman brings you on a journey from those early days through her breakout role on The Mickey Mouse Club alongside future stars like Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera, to her explosive music debut in 1998.

From the record-shattering success of “…Baby One More Time” to back-to-back hits like “Oops!… I Did It Again” this episode explores how Britney became a global phenomenon almost overnight, redefining pop music for a new generation while navigating the dizzying highs of instant superstardom and her first true love, Justin Timberlake.

Timestamps
04:02 Kentwood Roots
11:15 Star Search Breakthrough
14:27 Mickey Mouse Club Audition
18:01 Meeting Justin Timberlake
23:06 Returning Home
27:11 The Push to Make It Big
28:30 Jive Records Breakthrough
33:52 “Hit Me” Baby One More Time!
36:25 Pop Star Explosion
39:39 Justin and Britney Era
42:12 Oops Era and Pressure Mounts

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#BritneySpears #JustinTimberlake #popstar #podcast #notorious #exposed



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Hey, everyone, Welcome back to Exposed. I am your host,

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Jim Chapman, and for the next three episodes, we are

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gonna go deep, deeper than any documentary, deeper than the tabloids,

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and deeper than Brittany herself has ever been allowed to

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speak in public. This is not a quick hit recap.

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This is the definitive, chronological deep dive into the life

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of one of the most famous, most celebrated, and most

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controlled women on the planet. We're talking court transcripts, sealed

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medical records, never before heard stories from insiders, in Brittany's

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own raw words from her book The Woman and Me.

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We're pulling back the curtain on the good Girl Gone

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Wild narrative in showing you the real story, the one

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that was happening behind the flashbulbs and the VMA kisses

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and the million dollar smiles. From a tiny town in

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Louisiana where she was raised with the voice in talent

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much larger than her small town, to the Mickey Mouse

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Club stage where she first locked eyes with a young

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justin Timberlake, to the explosive rise that made her the

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highest paid female artist in history, and then to the

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darkest chapter of all thirteen years trapped inside a legal cage,

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none as a conservatorship. You're going to hear how a

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head shaving moment in a salon became a global cry

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for help. How an umbrella swing at a paparazzi car

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was the only way a desperate young mother could find back,

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How a fan movement called hashtag Free Britney literally stormed

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the courthouse steps and changed entertainment law forever. And how

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even after she finally broke free, the fight to reclaim

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her own life is still far from over. In this series,

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I'm gonna take you step by step from her birth

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in nineteen eighty one all the way to right now

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in twenty twenty six. This story is more than just

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about fame. It's about control. It's about what happens when

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a young woman's talent becomes everyone else's billion dollar business.

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It's about mental health, It's about motherhood and the price

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of being everyone's fantasy. And most importantly, it's about a

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woman who finally found her own voice after the entire

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planet tried to speak for her. I promise you this.

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Every fact you here is documented. Every shocking moment is

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backed by public records, sworn testimony, or Britney's own words.

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But I'm also going to tell it with the compassion

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the story deserves, because behind the headlines was a little

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girl from Kentwood, Louisiana who just wanted to sing. So

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buckle up, grab your headphones, and maybe pour yourself something

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a little bit strong, because this ride gets dark, it

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gets wild, and it gets emotional in ways you will

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not believe. This is notorious, the shocking life of Britney Spears.

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My loneanness is killing me, and the steps still believes

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sway lose my mind.

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Give me a sign.

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Time. So I want you to picture this. A two

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lane highway cutting through some piny woods, a water tower

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painted with the word Kentwood in faded blue letters. Population

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just over two thousand. This is Kentwood, Louisiana. It's a

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spec on the map in Tangibahoa Parish where everybody pretty

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much knows everybody. It's a quiet town less than an

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hour from where I'm recording right now, and today it's

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known for two distinct things. A bottled water company called

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Kentwood Springs in the birthplace of Britney Spears. It was

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here on a crisp December morning in nineteen eighty one,

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that a baby girl entered the world who would one

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day sell over one hundred million records and turn the

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entire planet into her stage. But on December second, nineteen

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eighty one, she was just Britton Jene Spears, seven pounds

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four ounces, born not in Kentwood itself, but twenty miles

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away at the Southwest Mississippi Medical Center. This is in

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McComb because that was the closest hospital with a decent

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maternity ward. Her mother, Lynn Irene Bridges Spears, was twenty

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four years old, a second grade teacher with a gentle

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voice and big dreams for her children. Her father, James

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Jamie Parnell Spears, was twenty nine. He was a building

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contractor who could swing a hammer by day and play

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a guitar by night. They already had a four year

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old son, who was Brian, and the family lived in

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a modest, three bedroom brick house on a quiet street

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lined with live oaks. Now money was tight. Jamie's construction

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work could be feast or it could be famine, depending

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on the weather. In the economy and Lynn's teacher salary

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will it barely stretched far enough to cover groceries, dance

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lessons and the occasional new pair of tap shoes. From

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the moment she could walk, Brittany was moving. Lynn would

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later tell interviewers that her daughter never simply walked anywhere,

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she danced. At age two, she was already spinning and

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twirling in the living room to whatever song was playing

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on the radio. By age three, she was standing on

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the coffee table, belting out every word to whatever was

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on television, whether it was a commercial jingle or gospel hymn.

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The family joke was that Brittany didn't have a volume

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nob she only had two settings off and blaring. Church

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was Brittany's first real stage. Every Sunday at the Kentwood

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Baptist Church, little Brittany stood in the children's choir. She

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would wear a white dress, her blond hair and the

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perfect pigtails, and she would sing with a voice that

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already carried a shocking power for such a tiny frame.

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Neighbors still talk about the Christmas pageant when she was

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just five years old. She was dressed as an angel.

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She stepped to the front of that stage and she

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sang what child is this? Completely solo after the piano

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player missed her que The congregation fell quiet when she finished.

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The applause was so loud the wooden rafters would shake

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inside of that church. Her mother, lymb would wipe tears

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from her eyes, already sensing that something unstoppable had started.

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But church wasn't enough for Brittany. She wanted more. She

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begged her parents for dance lessons, gymnastic lessons, anything that

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let her perform, and Jamie and Lynn they would scrape

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together the money at the local gym. Brittany trained four

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afternoons a week, flipping, tumbling, all with the same fierce

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concentration that she would later bring to music videos. Her

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co will remember a little girl who refused to quit,

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even when her hands would bleed from the bars. Quote

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she had this fire. One early instructor will recall in

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a later interview. He would say most kids or age

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would cry if they fell. Brittany would just wipe her eyes,

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get back up and try again even harder. Pageants would

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become the next frontier. In the late nineteen eighties and

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early nineties, Small town Louisiana lived for its beauty pageants

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and its talent competitions. Brittany entered all of them. Miss

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Tiny Todd Miss Preteen Louisiana, little Miss Talent USA, you

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name it. She was on stage and she won. She

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would win crowns, sashes, and trophies that eventually filled an

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entire shelf in her bedroom. One of her most famous

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early wins came at the Kentwood Dairy Festival when she

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was around seven years old. She tap danced and saying

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I'm a little tea pot and I know I can't sing,

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but she sang that while wearing a homemade cowprint outfit

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her mother had sown the night before, and the crowd

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ate it up. Her home life was loving, but it

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was complicated. Jamie was stern, a no nonsense provider. He

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was quick with the lecture, but he was just as

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quick with a hug when his kids needed it. He

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worked long hours, he sometimes came home frustrated when jobs

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would fall through. And Lynn she was the dreamer, the

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one who sat on the edge of Brittany's bed at night.

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She would read stories and encourage her to reach for

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the stars. Her older brother, Brian was also protective, but

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he was also her biggest cheerleader. He'd sit through every

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pageant and talent show and he would clap louder than anyone.

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Then in nineteen ninety one, when Brittany was nine, everything

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would change again. Her little sister, Jamie lymb was born.

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Suddenly the household had a newborn, and Brittany now the

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middle child. She took on the role of big sister

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with the same intensity that she brought to everything else.

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She would help change diapers, she would sing wallabies and

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proudly showed Jamie Lynn off to the neighbors. But that

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added mouth to feed meant even tighter finances. The Spears family.

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They knew the meaning of making do hand me down clothes,

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homemade meals that they would stretch with rice and beans,

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and more than one Christmas where the big gift under

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the tree was a new pair of dance shoes instead

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of toys. Yet in that modest house on that quiet street,

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something extraordinary was growing. Brittany's teachers at Kentwood Elementary they

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noticed it immediately. She wasn't just talented, she was driven

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in a way that most adults would find startling. She

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practiced routines in the hall way during recess. She would

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stay after school to help the music teacher organize sheep music,

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and when the school put on its annual talent show.

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A ten year old Brittany didn't just perform, She rehearsed

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until her voice would crack, then keep going. So in

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nineteen ninety two, ten year old little Brittany from Little Kentwood, Louisiana,

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she steps onto the biggest talent show on television at

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that point, Star Search. She walks out there, cool his ice,

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grabs the mic and hits everybody with a powerhouse version

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of the juds love Can Build a Bridge. They gave

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her a solid three and three quarterstars. But here's the

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part that still blows my mind. She lost narrowly to

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a twelve year old kid named Marty Thomas, who scored

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a perfect four. Now that right there, y'all, that was

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America's very first look at the raw once in a

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lifetime generation talent that was about to take over the

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entire planet. Little Brittany from kent Wood didn't win that night,

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but she damned her planet her flag. Now, there were

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early fractures beneath that sparkle too. Even as a child,

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Britney showed a lot of signs of anxiety that would

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later haunt her lynn. She spoke openly about how her

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daughter would sometimes lie awake at night, worried about whether

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her next performance would be good enough. Lynn would say

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she was a perfectionist. If a dance step wasn't perfect,

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she would cry in the car all the way home.

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Jamie would tell her she was already the best one

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out there, but the pressure she put on herself was

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very unique for someone her age, So by the time

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she turned eleven in December of nineteen ninety two, Brittany

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had outgrown every local stage that kent Wood could offer.

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Local pageant judges knew her by name before she even

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walked on the stage, dance instructor knew that she had

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something special, and her mother She began driving to bigger

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auditions in nearby cities Baton Rouge or New Orleans whenever

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word of a talent search would come through. And then,

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in the spring of nineteen ninety three came the audition

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notice that would change everything. The All New Mickey Mouse Club,

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a Disney Channel reboot, had already launched the careers of

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kids like Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera, and it was

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holding open calls in Atlanta, Georgia. Now Brittany was only eleven,

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but she begged her mother to let her try out.

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Lenn and Jamie talked about it over the kitchen table

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one night. They figured out the trip would cost money

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that they really didn't have, it would cause Brittany to

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miss school, and it would also cause Lynn to leave

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Brian and baby Jamie Lynn behind for days. But Brittany

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was persistent, and so they decided why not. So in

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the summer of nineteen ninety three, Limb packed the car,

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kissed Jamie and the younger kids goodbye, and drove her

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eleven year old daughter eight hours to Atlanta and Brittany.

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She wore her favorite audition outfit, a simple black leotard

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under a denim jacket, and she carried a cassette tape

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of her prepared song in a plastic case. She had

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no idea this single audition would open the door to Orlando,

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to television cameras, to a whole new world, and to

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a boy named Justin who would later break her heart

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in front of the entire planet. For now, in the

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humid Georgia air outside of that Atlanta audition hall, a

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little girl from kit Wood stood on the sidewalk holding

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her mother's hand, heart pounding, dreams bigger than the state

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of Louisiana. And this is where everything truly begins. And

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that audition hall in Atlanta was not what you may

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think for a production. Standing on the outside looking in,

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truth be told, it smelled like sweat, hairspray, and pure

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nervous energy. Hundreds of kids, some as young as eight,

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others pushing fifteen. They stretched, vocalized, and practice their routines

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in every corner. And it was a summer of nineteen

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ninety three. The All Knew Mickey Mouse Club was holding

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one of its final open calls for season seven. Now,

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eleven year old Britney Spears had already been turned away

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once before, at the age of eight. She had auditioned

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in New Orleans and been politely rejected, with the casting

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director saying she was too young. But this time she

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was older, more polished, and absolutely determined. She stood in line,

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wearing that simple black leotard under that denim jacket, clutching

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that set like it was a golden ticket, and her

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mother Limb waited outside in the hallway with her heart

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absolutely in her throat. When Brittany's number was called, she

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walked into the room with the quiet confidence of someone

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who had won every pageant in Tangebajoa Parish. The panel

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asked her to sing, dance, and deliver a short monologue.

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She chose I Don't Want to Cry by Mariah Carey

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for her vocal, then launched into a sharp, energetic tap

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routine she had perfected back home in Louisiana. The room

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went quiet. One of the casting directors later recalled, Brittany

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didn't just perform, she lit up the space like she

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already belonged on television. And by the end of the

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day the call came she was in. Out of thousands

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who had auditioned across the country. Britney Jean Spears from Kentwood,

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Louisiana had earned a spot on the most prestigious children's

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variety show on planet Earth. Now. The move to Orlando

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happened fast. In the fall of nineteen ninety three. The

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entire Spears family uprooted Jamie Lynn, Brian and Little Jamie Lynn.

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They all piled into the car for the long drive

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to Florida, and they would settle in a modest rented

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townhouse near the Disney World complex. While Brittany began the

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intense six day a week schedule that would define the

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next year of her life. And the all new Mickey

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Mouse Club was no ordinary kids show. Filmed on a

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massive sound stage at Disney's MGM Studios, it was part

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variety show, part boot camp. Each musketeer and incidentally, there

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were nine new ones that season, had to master singing, dancing, acting,

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comedy sketches, and on camera hosting. Second, they attended school

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for three hours a day in a trailer behind the stage,

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and that was taught by on set tutors who tried

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to keep up with the math worksheets between dance rehearsals. Now,

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Brittany was one of the youngest Mousketeers that time, and

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the smallest, but what she lacked in age she would

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make up for in presence. From the very first read,

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she stood out. Producers noticed her natural charisma in front

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of the camera, the way she could flip from sweet

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Southern charm to sharp comedic timing in just a single beat.

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And she was paired in sketches with the older kids,

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and the chemistry would be instant. And then there would

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be a boy who would change her life forever. Justin

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Timberlake was fourteen. He was already tall and lanky and

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He had that trademark curly hair and that easy going smile,

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and he had been on the show since season six

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and was considered one of the vets. The first time

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Brittany and Justin locked eyes during a group warm up,

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something clicked. They were paired together amidst immediately for a duet.

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Justin he had this smooth R and B infused voice

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and Brittany had this powerhouse belt, and when they would

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sing together, it would sound electric even in rehearsal. Now,

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off camera, they became fast friends. They would joke around,

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they would share snacks between takes, and they would sneak

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glances across the cafeteria. Brittany later described in interviews how

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Justin made her feel seen in a way that no

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one else did. It was a first love type feeling

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for her. Now, this cast was stacked with future superstars.

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Christina Aguilera, a year older than Brittany, was already a

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vocal powerhouse. Ryan Gosling brought dry humor and would quickly

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become the big brother figure. Carrie Russell, J. C. Schazaz,

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00:20:52.160 --> 00:20:56.119
and Nicky DeLoach rounded out the group that felt more

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like a traveling circus family than coworkers. They would together

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in the same Disney provided housing complex. They would ride

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the same shuttle van to the studio every morning at

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six am and spend evenings rehearsing until her voices gave out.

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And life on the set was fun, but it was exhausting.

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Wake up calls at five point thirty, hair and makeup

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by six point thirty, full run throughs, camera blocking, vocal

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warm ups, choreography that had to be camera ready in

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one take. And Britney thrived on that structure. She absorbed

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every lesson like a sponge. How to hit her mark,

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how to project her voice for television mics, how to

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smile through the twelve hour days. It was an amazing

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opportunity for her, but it was also exhausting and pressure

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field for such a young lady. And at night back

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in the townhouse, Brittany would sometimes crawl into her mother's

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lap and she would cry quietly. She would miss the

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quiet streets of Kentwood, the smell of her grandmother's cooking,

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the freedom to just run away the yard without a schedule.

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The Disney machine was relentless. Every mousketeer was under constant scrutiny,

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wait checks, posture corrections, media training that taught them exactly

307
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what to say and what not to say. Brittany was

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told early that her southern accent was too thick for

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national television, and so she would work hard to smooth

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it out, practicing in front of the mirror until it

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sounded polished and neutral. Yet that pressure only seemed to

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sharpen her talent. Fans who watched the show that season

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still remember the tiny blonde mousketeer with the eversize mickey

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ears who seemed to glow under the lights now. That

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season wrapped in early nineteen ninety four. The show had

316
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been renewed for one more year, but Disney executives quietly

317
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decided not to bring Britney back for season eight. The

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00:22:50.119 --> 00:22:52.839
official reason given to her was that she was too

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young to continue with an older cast. In reality, the

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network was already shifting focus and starting to slug. The

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00:23:02.480 --> 00:23:07.200
cancelation of the entire series came shortly after, so Brittany

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00:23:07.240 --> 00:23:10.480
flew home to kent Wood with a suitcase full of costumes,

323
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a head full of new skills, and a heart that

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had tasted the spotlight and could never go back to

325
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an ordinary life. She had just been and left on

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a real television set. She had performed for millions. She

327
00:23:25.559 --> 00:23:29.680
had held hands with Justin Timberlake during a slug group

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number and felt the first flutter of something deeper than

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friendship and looking back. The Mickey Mouse Club was Britney's

330
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first true launch pad. It polished every raw edge that

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she had brought from Louisiana. It taught her how to

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work on camera, how to command a stage, and how

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to smile even when she was just flat out tired.

334
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It also planned in the first seeds of a child

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star pressure cooker that would follow her for decades. The

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Disney grooming pro was kind of on the surface, safe,

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00:24:02.920 --> 00:24:08.000
wholesome and magical, but underneath it demanded perfection at an

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age when most kids are still climbing trees. So the

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fact of the matter is Brittany returned to Kentwood a

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different girl. The local paper ran a front page story

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00:24:17.839 --> 00:24:20.920
with her picture in Mickey Ears. Neighbors would stop her

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00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:24.079
in the grocery store and ask for her autograph, And

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in the back of Brittany's mind, she already knew one

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thing for starting. This was only the start the real

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00:24:31.240 --> 00:24:34.960
world of record deals. Sault out arenas and global fame.

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It was just right around the corner. She always believed

347
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that Brittany re enrolled at school, made the cheerleading squad,

348
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tried to blend in with her classmates, who now looked

349
00:24:45.519 --> 00:24:48.519
at her like she was part celebrity in part alien.

350
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But inside, something fundamental had shifted. The girl who had

351
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been content singing in the church choir now found the

352
00:24:57.400 --> 00:25:02.359
local talent shows feeling painfully small. She would lie awake

353
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at night she would replay every masket teer sketch inside

354
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of her head, and the roar of the studio audience

355
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still would echo in her ears. Kent Wood suddenly felt

356
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a little bit like a cage. Her mother Lynn, she

357
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would see this immediately. Her daughter was not the same

358
00:25:20.519 --> 00:25:24.640
carefree pageant kid. The Disney experience had lit a fire

359
00:25:24.759 --> 00:25:28.480
that couldn't be put out with after school activities or

360
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Sunday services. So Lim made a promise to herself one

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00:25:32.359 --> 00:25:35.720
night that if that's what Britney wanted, She's going to

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help her daughter get it, no matter what it would take.

363
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Money was tighter than ever. Jamie's construction jobs still came

364
00:25:43.000 --> 00:25:46.799
and went with the economy. Lynn's second grade teacher, salary

365
00:25:46.880 --> 00:25:50.400
covered the basics, but the extra gas, motel rooms, and

366
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audition entry fees would add up fast. Every Friday, after

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school letout, Limb would load Brittany into that same old

368
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car that they had, sometimes with a cooler of sandwiches

369
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in the back seat, and they would drive four six

370
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eight hours to the next open call. They would sleep

371
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in a two to a bed budget motel where the

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air conditioner would rattle all night long. They ate it

373
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drive through burger joints between rehearsal Lin would sit in

374
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the hallways during auditions and she would cross ditch or

375
00:26:23.559 --> 00:26:26.960
she would gray papers while Brittany poured every ounce of

376
00:26:26.960 --> 00:26:30.440
her soul into another dance routine or vocal run, and

377
00:26:30.559 --> 00:26:35.599
rejection would come often. Brittany auditioned for girl groups, television pilots,

378
00:26:35.880 --> 00:26:39.759
broadway tours, even a short lived country music development deal.

379
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One label executive in Nashville told her she was too

380
00:26:43.960 --> 00:26:47.359
pop for country and too country for pop. Another said

381
00:26:47.440 --> 00:26:50.920
she looked like she was two girl next door for

382
00:26:51.039 --> 00:26:54.960
that Edgier team market that they were chasing. And every

383
00:26:55.079 --> 00:26:58.880
rejection hurt, but Brittany refused to let it show in

384
00:26:58.920 --> 00:27:01.599
front of her mother in the car on these long

385
00:27:01.680 --> 00:27:05.279
drives home, she would sometimes cry quietly in the window,

386
00:27:05.400 --> 00:27:07.720
but by the time they would pull into the driveway,

387
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she would force a smile and say, next one, Mama,

388
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Next one's going to be the one. At thirteen, Brittany

389
00:27:14.759 --> 00:27:19.160
pushed even harder. She enrolled in a prestigious summer program

390
00:27:19.200 --> 00:27:22.559
at the professional Performing Arts School in New York City,

391
00:27:22.920 --> 00:27:26.880
living with distant family friends and writing the subway alone.

392
00:27:26.920 --> 00:27:30.880
For the first time, she studied voice acting in dance

393
00:27:31.039 --> 00:27:35.000
from morning until night. She would absorb every technique like

394
00:27:35.039 --> 00:27:39.079
a sponge back in Kentwood. She would keep performing anywhere

395
00:27:39.160 --> 00:27:42.720
that they would have her church revivals, where the congregation

396
00:27:43.240 --> 00:27:47.119
still remembered her as the little angel who sang what

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child is? This school assemblies, even the occasional mall appearance,

398
00:27:51.960 --> 00:27:55.640
where local radio stations would play her old Mickey Mouse

399
00:27:55.640 --> 00:27:59.359
Club clips and fans would line up for autographs. The

400
00:27:59.440 --> 00:28:03.400
family say sacrifices. Also, Randye, her dad would work extra

401
00:28:03.519 --> 00:28:07.240
shifts and missed family dinners so that Lane could keep driving.

402
00:28:07.559 --> 00:28:10.759
Brian would help watch Jamie Lynn so as Mom could

403
00:28:10.759 --> 00:28:14.400
focus on Britney's neighbors would say the spears were pushing

404
00:28:14.440 --> 00:28:17.559
that girl too hard, but inside of that house, the

405
00:28:17.640 --> 00:28:22.039
atmosphere was one of fierce, loving belief. Lin would sit

406
00:28:22.079 --> 00:28:25.079
at the edge of Britney's bed late at night, brushing

407
00:28:25.119 --> 00:28:28.279
her hair and whispering, God gave you this gift for

408
00:28:28.319 --> 00:28:31.799
a reason, and we're just clearing the path. So By

409
00:28:31.880 --> 00:28:36.160
nineteen ninety seven, Britney had turned fifteen. She was taller,

410
00:28:36.519 --> 00:28:39.880
more confident, and carried herself with the quiet poise of

411
00:28:39.920 --> 00:28:43.759
someone who had already logged thousands of hours under stage lights.

412
00:28:44.160 --> 00:28:48.079
Her small time manager, Larry Rudolph, he had been shopping

413
00:28:48.119 --> 00:28:52.680
a homemade demo tape Brittany singing over karaoke tracks at

414
00:28:52.680 --> 00:28:56.160
a friend's garage, to every label that would listen. In

415
00:28:56.319 --> 00:29:02.000
one label, finally, bit Jive Records. The audition was scheduled

416
00:29:02.039 --> 00:29:06.279
for a humid afternoon in a midtown Manhattan conference room

417
00:29:06.400 --> 00:29:09.680
on a hot June day. Brittany walked in wearing a

418
00:29:09.880 --> 00:29:14.720
simple white tank top and jeans, no aunentourage except her mother,

419
00:29:14.799 --> 00:29:18.599
who waited anxiously in the hallway with a styrofuning cup

420
00:29:18.640 --> 00:29:23.880
of coffee. The Jive executives, including label president Clive Calder,

421
00:29:24.079 --> 00:29:27.799
asked her to sing a cappella. She chose Whitney Houston's

422
00:29:28.119 --> 00:29:32.640
I Have Nothing, a ballad that demanded raw power, emotional depth,

423
00:29:32.759 --> 00:29:36.359
and control far beyond her years. She closed her eyes,

424
00:29:36.599 --> 00:29:39.160
she took a breath, and she'd let it ri up.

425
00:29:39.279 --> 00:29:42.319
When the final note faded, the room was dead silent

426
00:29:42.400 --> 00:29:46.680
for about three seconds. Then Clive leaned forward, looked her

427
00:29:46.720 --> 00:29:49.400
dead in the eye, and said the words that would

428
00:29:49.480 --> 00:29:53.599
change pop music forever quote, we want to sign her

429
00:29:54.000 --> 00:29:57.680
today now. The deal was modest by industry standards. It

430
00:29:57.759 --> 00:30:01.440
was relatively small in the term of an advance in

431
00:30:01.480 --> 00:30:04.880
a multi album contract, gave the label a lot of

432
00:30:04.920 --> 00:30:09.720
heavy creative control, but it was real. Brittany was officially

433
00:30:10.079 --> 00:30:14.079
a recording artist. That night, the family celebrated with cheap

434
00:30:14.119 --> 00:30:17.599
pizza in a tiny New York hotel, but there was

435
00:30:17.720 --> 00:30:20.960
no time to rest. Jive had a plan, and it

436
00:30:21.079 --> 00:30:25.200
was moving at warp speed. Within weeks, Brittany and Lin

437
00:30:25.319 --> 00:30:28.440
were on a flight to Sweden. Jive had flown her

438
00:30:28.559 --> 00:30:32.079
straight into the hands of the most successful pop production

439
00:30:32.200 --> 00:30:35.759
team on the planet, Charon Studios, run by the late

440
00:30:35.960 --> 00:30:39.680
Dennis Pop and Max Martin. These were hip makers that

441
00:30:39.759 --> 00:30:43.799
were behind the Backstreet Boys, Ace of Base and the

442
00:30:44.000 --> 00:30:47.960
entire emerging team pop culture. The moment could not have

443
00:30:48.039 --> 00:30:50.759
been more perfect. The Spice Girls had just taken the

444
00:30:50.759 --> 00:30:56.039
world by storm with Wanna Bee. Hans's mbop was inescapable.

445
00:30:56.359 --> 00:30:59.519
Team pop was no longer in niche genre. It was

446
00:30:59.640 --> 00:31:02.640
the dominant sound of the late nineteen nineties, and every

447
00:31:02.720 --> 00:31:06.440
label was racing to find its next breakout star. In

448
00:31:06.480 --> 00:31:09.799
the studio, Brittany met Max Martin for the first time.

449
00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:12.960
He played her a bouncing, mid tempo track that he

450
00:31:13.000 --> 00:31:16.359
had been tinkering with, with a killer hook and a simple,

451
00:31:16.599 --> 00:31:22.200
addictive melody. The working title was Baby One More Time.

452
00:31:22.359 --> 00:31:26.880
Brittany listened once, stepped up to a microphone in her

453
00:31:26.920 --> 00:31:31.319
oversized head phones, and delivered the vocal in essentially a

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00:31:31.400 --> 00:31:34.200
single take. Martin would later say in interviews that he

455
00:31:34.240 --> 00:31:38.599
knew instantly, this voice, this energy, this girl was gonna

456
00:31:38.599 --> 00:31:42.359
define the next era of pop. They recorded four more

457
00:31:42.440 --> 00:31:46.880
tracks in just ten days. Brittany was jetlagged, homesick, and

458
00:31:46.960 --> 00:31:51.599
only fifteen years old, but she worked like a season professional,

459
00:31:51.960 --> 00:31:56.119
twelve hour days, perfect pitch, zero complaints. Back in the

460
00:31:56.279 --> 00:32:00.359
United States jives marketing machine. It went into overdry. They

461
00:32:00.480 --> 00:32:05.160
crafted her image with almost military precision. The Sweet Church

462
00:32:05.200 --> 00:32:08.960
going Southern girl next door who could still smolder just

463
00:32:09.119 --> 00:32:13.799
enough to make teenage hearts race in parents, slightly nervous

464
00:32:14.000 --> 00:32:18.839
schoolgirl uniforms, glossy lips, that new iconic blonde hair with

465
00:32:18.920 --> 00:32:23.759
the subtle dark roots for the edge. Publicists planted stories

466
00:32:23.799 --> 00:32:28.839
about our Kentwood upbringing in strong family values, while simultaneously

467
00:32:29.079 --> 00:32:33.079
teasing a more provocative side in early photo sheets. It

468
00:32:33.119 --> 00:32:37.960
was a delicate, calculated balancing act, innocence wrapped in just

469
00:32:38.119 --> 00:32:42.720
enough suggestion to dominate the charts. By late nineteen ninety seven,

470
00:32:42.799 --> 00:32:46.039
the first single was mixed, mastered, and ready for the world.

471
00:32:46.200 --> 00:32:49.319
Jive flew Brittany to New York for her very first

472
00:32:49.440 --> 00:32:54.079
major professional photoshoot and a whirlwind of label meetings. She

473
00:32:54.279 --> 00:32:57.000
was still helping with the chores when she flew home

474
00:32:57.039 --> 00:33:00.839
to kent Wood between trips. She was still your sister

475
00:33:01.039 --> 00:33:06.000
every single night, but the transformation was undeniable. The girl

476
00:33:06.000 --> 00:33:09.319
who had once tap danced as a teapot in a

477
00:33:09.359 --> 00:33:13.839
homemade colprint outfit at that kent Wood Dairy Festival was

478
00:33:13.960 --> 00:33:16.400
now standing in front of a state of the art

479
00:33:16.480 --> 00:33:20.680
microphone in Sweden, recording a song that would soon become

480
00:33:20.799 --> 00:33:26.119
the fastest selling single by a teenage artist in history.

481
00:33:26.240 --> 00:33:30.799
The long transition years, the endless highway miles, the cheap motels,

482
00:33:30.920 --> 00:33:35.680
the heartbreaking rejections, and the unwavering belief of one determined

483
00:33:35.720 --> 00:33:39.839
mother were finally paying off. The small town dreamer from

484
00:33:39.960 --> 00:33:44.759
Kentwood had paid every single due, on every back road

485
00:33:44.839 --> 00:33:49.000
and on audition couch in the South. The spotlight wasn't

486
00:33:49.079 --> 00:33:53.240
just waiting anymore, it was coming at her full force.

487
00:33:53.640 --> 00:33:57.680
So January twelfth, nineteen ninety nine, that was a Tuesday

488
00:33:57.759 --> 00:34:01.279
morning that felt like any other in America. That is

489
00:34:01.400 --> 00:34:06.079
until radio stations across the country flipped their playlist and

490
00:34:06.200 --> 00:34:09.880
dropped a brand new single that would change pop music forever.

491
00:34:10.159 --> 00:34:14.239
The song started with a simple, hypnotic piano line, then

492
00:34:14.360 --> 00:34:20.400
that unmistakable voice that cut through like a lightning bolt.

493
00:34:21.079 --> 00:34:23.920
How was I suppose now.

494
00:34:26.239 --> 00:34:31.760
That something was? Brittany Speakers was sixteen years old when

495
00:34:31.880 --> 00:34:35.800
Baby One More Time hit the airwaves, and within hours

496
00:34:35.920 --> 00:34:40.639
it was everywhere radio, MTV, every mall sound system from

497
00:34:40.800 --> 00:34:44.920
Kentwood to Tokyo. The music video, the iconic Catholic school

498
00:34:44.960 --> 00:34:49.480
girl uniform, the pigtails, the synchronized dance moves in an

499
00:34:49.559 --> 00:34:53.880
empty high school Hallway, exploded onto the screens and quite

500
00:34:53.920 --> 00:34:58.559
frankly refused to leave. Directed by Nigel Dick and shot

501
00:34:58.639 --> 00:35:03.760
in a single day, that video became an instant cultural masterpiece.

502
00:35:03.920 --> 00:35:09.119
Teenagers everywhere were copying that choreography in their bedrooms, parents

503
00:35:09.159 --> 00:35:12.199
were debating whether the hit me lyric was a little

504
00:35:12.199 --> 00:35:16.719
bit too suggestive, and record executives at JIB for watching

505
00:35:16.760 --> 00:35:20.679
the sales numbers skyrocket in real time. By the end

506
00:35:20.679 --> 00:35:23.440
of the first week, that single had sold over a

507
00:35:23.559 --> 00:35:26.039
half a million copies. By the end of the month,

508
00:35:26.159 --> 00:35:29.280
it was the fastest selling single by a teenage artist

509
00:35:29.320 --> 00:35:34.079
in history. The debut album, also titled Baby One More Time,

510
00:35:34.519 --> 00:35:38.519
dropped on January twelfth, and also debuted at number one

511
00:35:38.880 --> 00:35:41.480
on the Billboard Top two hundred. It would go on

512
00:35:41.559 --> 00:35:45.440
to sell more than ten million copies in the US

513
00:35:45.440 --> 00:35:50.400
a one fourteen million worldwide, making Brittany the best selling

514
00:35:50.480 --> 00:35:54.199
female artists of the year and turning her into an

515
00:35:54.239 --> 00:35:56.400
overnight global sensation.

516
00:35:56.599 --> 00:35:58.079
You find it hard to deal with the fame part

517
00:35:58.079 --> 00:35:59.360
of it. Were you able to go out in the

518
00:35:59.360 --> 00:36:00.920
street or everyone knows me.

519
00:36:01.039 --> 00:36:03.599
You Sometimes I'm just now starting to get like, you know,

520
00:36:03.760 --> 00:36:05.639
like you'll go into a store and people will be

521
00:36:05.719 --> 00:36:08.119
like asking you for your autograph and stuff, but it's

522
00:36:08.199 --> 00:36:09.920
flattering to me. I think it's really sweet.

523
00:36:10.159 --> 00:36:12.199
Yeah. Well, you're a level headed young girl, and I

524
00:36:12.239 --> 00:36:13.760
hope that you stay that way. And I think that

525
00:36:13.840 --> 00:36:16.519
you will stay there in Louisiana. It's a nice place

526
00:36:16.760 --> 00:36:19.239
and it'll keep you grounded good And see a sweetheart,

527
00:36:19.360 --> 00:36:22.400
stack care. We'll be right back after this one.

528
00:36:23.000 --> 00:36:26.119
The world had never seen a star rise quite like this.

529
00:36:26.400 --> 00:36:30.920
Brittany went from performing at small town Louisiana fairs to

530
00:36:31.039 --> 00:36:35.760
headlining the MTV Video Music Awards in just nine months.

531
00:36:36.079 --> 00:36:39.599
On September ninth of nineteen ninety nine, at the MTV

532
00:36:39.880 --> 00:36:43.320
VMA's in New York, she stepped onto the stage in

533
00:36:43.360 --> 00:36:47.000
a black suit that she quickly ripped open to reveal

534
00:36:47.000 --> 00:36:52.199
a skin type glittering flesh colored outfit underneath. She prowled

535
00:36:52.199 --> 00:36:55.719
the stage like a season that microphone in one hand,

536
00:36:56.000 --> 00:36:59.800
hips moving with confidence that made the entire audience lose

537
00:36:59.840 --> 00:37:03.360
the The performance of Baby One More Time and a

538
00:37:03.400 --> 00:37:06.679
new single titled You Drive Me Crazy cemented her as

539
00:37:06.760 --> 00:37:09.719
pop's new queen. Rolling Stone would later call it one

540
00:37:09.760 --> 00:37:13.480
of the most important VMA performances of all time, but

541
00:37:13.599 --> 00:37:18.119
that theme came with an intensity no seventeen year old

542
00:37:18.119 --> 00:37:22.320
could have prepared for. Paparazzi camping outside of her hotel rooms,

543
00:37:22.719 --> 00:37:27.239
tabloids printing daily lives about her weight, her boyfriends, even

544
00:37:27.280 --> 00:37:33.119
her virginity pledge. Every move was scrutinized. Brittany later described

545
00:37:33.119 --> 00:37:35.519
in her book how she would cry in the back

546
00:37:35.519 --> 00:37:39.760
of limos, overwhelmed by the constant flashbulbs and the loss

547
00:37:39.760 --> 00:37:44.480
of any sense of normalcy. Yet on stage and in interviews,

548
00:37:44.559 --> 00:37:49.760
she remained the ultimate professional, smiling that million dollar Southern smile,

549
00:37:49.920 --> 00:37:54.960
answering every question with poise and working eighteen hour days,

550
00:37:54.960 --> 00:37:59.440
never complaining. And then there was Justin Now. The spark

551
00:37:59.480 --> 00:38:02.599
at first ignited on the Mickey Mouse Club set in

552
00:38:02.719 --> 00:38:06.400
nineteen ninety three, and it never completely went out. After

553
00:38:06.480 --> 00:38:09.679
that show ended, Brittany and Justin they stayed in touch

554
00:38:09.840 --> 00:38:14.519
through occasional phone calls and messages, two kids navigating the

555
00:38:14.559 --> 00:38:17.719
strange new world of the music industry. Then, in late

556
00:38:17.840 --> 00:38:20.960
nineteen ninety eight, as brittany single was about to drop

557
00:38:21.119 --> 00:38:25.280
in Sync, which was Justin's group, they were also exploding,

558
00:38:25.480 --> 00:38:29.280
the two stars reconnected at a party in La This

559
00:38:29.440 --> 00:38:34.239
time the chemistry was undeniable. Justin, now seventeen, was already

560
00:38:34.239 --> 00:38:38.280
considered a heart throb with that curly hair and effortless charm,

561
00:38:38.599 --> 00:38:42.400
and he asked Brittany out on their first official date

562
00:38:42.840 --> 00:38:46.400
shortly after, so by early nineteen ninety nine they were

563
00:38:46.440 --> 00:38:50.639
officially together. Though they kept it private at first, the

564
00:38:50.719 --> 00:38:56.159
public reveal came gradually through joint appearances and carefully worded interviews.

565
00:38:56.360 --> 00:38:59.440
They bought their first red carpett together at the nineteen

566
00:38:59.519 --> 00:39:03.760
ninety nine Billboard Music Awards, looking every bit the Golden

567
00:39:03.840 --> 00:39:07.079
teen couple. Justin would later say in interviews that Brittany

568
00:39:07.280 --> 00:39:10.280
understood the pressure in a way no one else could.

569
00:39:10.679 --> 00:39:14.360
They were both products of that same Disney machine, both

570
00:39:14.519 --> 00:39:18.599
thrust into superstartam at the same moment, and both trying

571
00:39:18.639 --> 00:39:21.519
to grow up in front of the entire planet. The

572
00:39:21.639 --> 00:39:27.000
romance was pure nineteen ninety nineteen idle fantasy. Matching tattoos,

573
00:39:27.280 --> 00:39:31.840
small Celtic symbols on the rest became tabloid gold. They

574
00:39:31.880 --> 00:39:36.119
were photographed holding hands in matching denim outfits, kissing on

575
00:39:36.159 --> 00:39:40.079
the beach in Mexico, and slow dancing at industry parties.

576
00:39:40.400 --> 00:39:43.519
They recorded a duet together for the soundtrack of the

577
00:39:43.559 --> 00:39:47.519
film on the Line, and fans absolutely lost their minds

578
00:39:47.519 --> 00:39:50.199
when the two biggest pop acts on earth seemed to

579
00:39:50.199 --> 00:39:52.679
be living the ultimate love story.

580
00:39:52.880 --> 00:39:54.239
You know, when we go out and stuff. We don't

581
00:39:54.239 --> 00:39:55.960
want to always be like going twistrants. We just want

582
00:39:55.960 --> 00:39:58.039
to be in watching movies, just me and him, you know,

583
00:39:58.159 --> 00:39:59.519
trying to toe surrounded by so many people.

584
00:39:59.599 --> 00:40:01.159
The yeah.

585
00:40:01.239 --> 00:40:03.119
Now he said I love you to you when you

586
00:40:03.320 --> 00:40:08.440
understand you at the very end, you know, he was like,

587
00:40:08.480 --> 00:40:09.000
and I love you.

588
00:40:09.119 --> 00:40:12.800
I was like, oh, it's very yes, it was very nice.

589
00:40:12.840 --> 00:40:15.159
You gotta love him. Yeah, I'm happy for the two

590
00:40:15.199 --> 00:40:17.119
of you. Well, I'd like you to work very hard

591
00:40:17.119 --> 00:40:17.679
to make it work.

592
00:40:17.960 --> 00:40:22.400
Brittany called Justin her first real love. In later reflections,

593
00:40:22.599 --> 00:40:26.239
he referred to her publicly as my girl and wrote

594
00:40:26.280 --> 00:40:30.360
the songs that fan swore were inspired by Brittany, But

595
00:40:30.400 --> 00:40:35.320
the microscope of fame magnified everything. Every argument, every rumor,

596
00:40:35.480 --> 00:40:39.199
every late night phone call was dissected by the tabloids.

597
00:40:39.320 --> 00:40:44.280
Paparazzi followed them on vacations. Radio host asked invasive questions

598
00:40:44.320 --> 00:40:45.400
about their sex life.

599
00:40:45.440 --> 00:40:47.199
You're not engaged, so where'd that come from?

600
00:40:47.480 --> 00:40:47.920
I don't know.

601
00:40:48.199 --> 00:40:49.719
It's just I have no idea.

602
00:40:49.760 --> 00:40:51.320
One day I woke up and he's like, oh, baby,

603
00:40:51.360 --> 00:40:53.519
we're engaged. Did you know that? And I was like no,

604
00:40:54.519 --> 00:40:57.480
So okay, you said one day I woke up.

605
00:40:57.519 --> 00:40:58.119
Where was he?

606
00:40:58.719 --> 00:40:59.199
Huh?

607
00:40:59.320 --> 00:41:00.880
You said one day I woke up.

608
00:41:01.360 --> 00:41:03.440
I don't remember exactly, okay.

609
00:41:03.559 --> 00:41:06.440
Because you implied that you lived together. One day I

610
00:41:06.519 --> 00:41:07.360
woke up.

611
00:41:07.679 --> 00:41:09.440
I woke up at my hotel and he called me

612
00:41:09.480 --> 00:41:14.840
at my hotel. Okay, yes, that's what Okay, Okay, Okay,

613
00:41:16.480 --> 00:41:16.920
I don't know.

614
00:41:17.159 --> 00:41:19.320
Did you how? She said one day I woke up

615
00:41:19.400 --> 00:41:22.559
and he said, baby, did you hear we're engaged? So

616
00:41:22.639 --> 00:41:25.599
I thought he was like right there when you woke up. No,

617
00:41:25.880 --> 00:41:27.400
that's okay, that's not happening.

618
00:41:27.519 --> 00:41:27.800
Okay.

619
00:41:27.800 --> 00:41:29.840
Do you guys live together? I heard that rumor too.

620
00:41:30.920 --> 00:41:33.760
We travel too much to even be able to live.

621
00:41:33.800 --> 00:41:36.119
I wish we could, but.

622
00:41:36.360 --> 00:41:38.360
No, yeah, And would that be okay with you?

623
00:41:38.400 --> 00:41:40.000
If you did? Would that be okay?

624
00:41:40.039 --> 00:41:41.000
If you live together?

625
00:41:41.840 --> 00:41:44.199
I would like that you would yeah, okay, I would

626
00:41:44.239 --> 00:41:47.960
like that. Brittany was still only seventeen when the relationship

627
00:41:48.000 --> 00:41:51.960
became front page news around the world. She and Justin

628
00:41:52.119 --> 00:41:55.159
tried to protect their privacy by keeping most of the

629
00:41:55.199 --> 00:42:00.400
details off social media, which back then it barely existed anyone,

630
00:42:00.639 --> 00:42:04.039
and they would only share carefully curated moment. Yet the

631
00:42:04.079 --> 00:42:07.599
pressure was relentless. They were young, they were in love,

632
00:42:07.760 --> 00:42:11.679
and they were living in fish bowls. Meanwhile, the music

633
00:42:11.760 --> 00:42:15.039
machine just kept rolling. In May of two thousand, Brittany

634
00:42:15.079 --> 00:42:18.559
released her second album, Oops I Did It Again. The

635
00:42:18.679 --> 00:42:23.400
lead single was a massive track that became another global smash.

636
00:42:23.840 --> 00:42:27.679
The music video, Brittany in a tight red vinyl catsuit

637
00:42:27.800 --> 00:42:31.679
on Mars dancing with a space man, was just as

638
00:42:31.880 --> 00:42:39.199
iconic as the schoolgirl uniform. The album debut number one,

639
00:42:39.320 --> 00:42:43.079
sold over nine million copies in the US and cemented

640
00:42:43.159 --> 00:42:47.000
Brittany as the undisputed queen of Team pop. She launched

641
00:42:47.039 --> 00:42:49.719
the Oops I Did It Again to her, playing to

642
00:42:49.800 --> 00:42:54.559
sold out arenas night after night, changing outfits between songs

643
00:42:54.599 --> 00:42:58.360
while dancers would actually spin around her and through it all,

644
00:42:58.679 --> 00:43:03.639
Justin was there, sometimes backstage, sometimes watching from the VIP section,

645
00:43:03.880 --> 00:43:08.800
but always supporting. They made joint appearances on TRL posts,

646
00:43:08.800 --> 00:43:13.119
for magazine covers, and they even performed together at Award Show. Yet,

647
00:43:13.119 --> 00:43:17.320
behind the matching tattoos and red carpet smiles, the twenty

648
00:43:17.320 --> 00:43:20.599
four to seven Paparazzi. It was already taking its toll.

649
00:43:21.000 --> 00:43:25.159
Brittany has spoken about how the constant scrutiny made even

650
00:43:25.199 --> 00:43:29.239
the simple dates feel like performances. Justin was dealing with

651
00:43:29.280 --> 00:43:33.199
his own skyrocketing fame as n SYNC started its own

652
00:43:33.280 --> 00:43:36.760
world tour. The two of them were growing at warp speed.

653
00:43:36.840 --> 00:43:40.400
They were learning how to navigate money, contracts, managers, and

654
00:43:40.519 --> 00:43:44.320
expectations of millions of fans who felt like they owned

655
00:43:44.639 --> 00:43:47.440
a piece of that relationship, and by the end of

656
00:43:47.519 --> 00:43:51.039
two thousand, they were living together part time in La

657
00:43:51.360 --> 00:43:55.360
trying to build something real while the entire entertainment industry

658
00:43:55.719 --> 00:44:00.599
watched their every move. They talked about their future, their marriage,

659
00:44:00.599 --> 00:44:04.480
maybe kids someday, but both were still teenagers at heart.

660
00:44:04.760 --> 00:44:08.920
They were carrying the weight of careers the demanded perfection

661
00:44:09.480 --> 00:44:13.880
every single day. The romance that once felt like destiny

662
00:44:14.400 --> 00:44:20.199
was about to face its biggest test. So next episode

663
00:44:20.320 --> 00:44:24.280
we will get into the very public breakup between Justin

664
00:44:24.360 --> 00:44:28.679
and Brittany, the continued rise of fame for Brittany and

665
00:44:28.760 --> 00:44:32.719
the moves that launched her into iconic status, and the

666
00:44:32.760 --> 00:44:37.239
impending spiral that would threaten to destroy it. All, Thanks

667
00:44:37.239 --> 00:44:40.480
so much for listening. Check out the Patreon for commercial,

668
00:44:40.559 --> 00:44:45.360
free early releases, bonus episodes, and even quarterly gifts at

669
00:44:45.440 --> 00:44:51.800
patreon dot com. Slash Exposed podcast files and until next

670
00:44:51.800 --> 00:44:56.599
time for Exposed, I'm your host, Jim Chapman. Much love,