25 October 2023 , 16:05
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Britney Spears' new book has sent shockwaves through her fans, with revelations about the way she's been treated by family, friends, managers and lovers over the years. Among the many bombshells in her memoir - whose publication was delayed for four months while lawyers pored over its contents - are her fears her family would kill her during her gruelling conservatorship, which placed restrictions on the way she could live, including what she ate and what contraceptives she could use.
And she also opened up about her various high-profile romances with a string of men, including her first major relationship with another very famous singer. Here the Mirror takes a look back at the famous and not-so-famous men she has dated throughout her time in the limelight...
Justin Timberlake
They were the perfect pop power couple: childhood sweethearts who'd met as stars on The Micky Mouse Club and who started dating in 1999, to the delight of their millions of young fans. At the height of their respective music careers - Britney as a solo singer, Justin as one-fifth of mega-successful boyband *NSync - the pair were a red carpet staple, famously dressing in matching double denim outfits for the 2001 American Music Awards.
Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake rocking double denim at the 2001 American Music Awards (GETTY)
American pop stars Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake (Getty)In her memoir, The Woman In Me, Britney reveals how the pair first got together. " [Once] at a sleepover, we played Truth or Dare, and someone dared Justin to kiss me. A Janet Jacksonsong was playing in the background as he leaned in and kissed me," she wrote.
The young couple plowed ahead with their relationship in the public spotlight, but behind the scenes her management team were keen to keep alive the myth of Britney's virginity - despite her having had sex for the first time at the age of 14 with a 17-year-old friend of her brother. Even so, the couple publicly committed to waiting until marriage - even at 18 she was still telling interviewers that she was waiting for her "special someone".
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The couple seemed to be the perfect pop lovers from the outside (WireImage)"Given that I had so many teenage fans, my managers and press people had long tried to portray me as an eternal virgin — never mind that Justinand I had been living together, and I’d been having sex since I was fourteen," she writes in her book. "Why did my managers work so hard to claim I was some kind of young-girl virgin even into my twenties? Whose business was it if I'd had sex or not?"
Their pop partnership imploded in March 2002 when Britney was hit with accusations she'd cheated on Justin with their choreographer Wade Robson - not helped by Justin casting a Britney lookalike in his solo music video for Cry Me A River, which contained lyrics pertaining to his ex's infidelity. Justin rode the wave of public anger directed at the young Britney, who wrote in her book that she was portrayed as the "harlot who'd broken the heart of America's golden boy," when in fact she was "comatose in Louisiana" over their breakup and he was "happily running around Hollywood".
It's since emerged Britney fell pregnant while with Justin, who encouraged her to have an abortion because they were too young to start a family. "To this day, it's one of the most agonising things I have ever experienced in my life," she writes.
Wade Robson
Choreographer Wade Robson, who Britney admitted kissing on a night out while she was still with Justin (Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP)Amid the rumours Britney had broken Justin's heart with her cheating came the name Wade Robson, the choreographer who had worked with the Toxic singer on her 1999 and 2000 world tours and put together the dance routines for her (You Drive Me) Crazy and I'm A Slave 4 U videos. He also masterminded her routines for her Pepsi commercials and helped choreograph *NSync's No Strings Attached 2000 tour, as well as direct a joint performance by Britney and the boyband at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards.
Britney talked him up in a 2000 Good Morning America interview, gushing: "He's just like a child prodigy, seriously … He's a genius. He's amazing." But neither of them ever spoke about the cheating allegations - until Britney revealed in her autobiography that they once kissed on a night out while she was still dating Timberlake. "We were out one night and we went to a Spanish bar. We danced and danced. I made out with him that night," she writes.
When Justin found out, the pair "agreed to move past" her slip-up as she was "loyal to Justin" and "only had eyes for him". Wade went on to accuse the late Michael Jackson of molesting him as a young child, having first met him at the age of five. He was invited to stay by the King of Pop at his Californian mansion, Neverland Ranch, and in 2013 Wade alleged Jackson had sexually abused him between 1990 and 1997 in a lawsuit filed against the Jackson estate. The 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland went into further detail about Wade's allegations.
Colin Farrell
Colin Farrell and Britney posed together at the premiere of his movie The Recruit on January 28, 2003 (Getty Images)The rumour mill was set aflame in early 2003 when Britney turned up to the premiere of Irish actor Colin Farrell's film The Recruit, and the pair were papped on the red carpet. Colin was quick to talk down speculation, telling press there: "We're not dating. She's a sweet, sweet girl. There's nothing going on — just mates."
But in her memoir, Britney reveals there was a lot more to it than being just mates. She originally met him through a club promoter friend and was invited to meet Colin on the set of his 2003 film S.W.A.T. Things quickly ramped up, and the pair enjoyed a "passionate" two-week fling. "'Brawl' is the only word for it - we were all over each other, grappling so passionately it was like we were in a street fight," she reveals.
Jason Allen Alexander
Britney drunkenly married childhood friend Jason Alexander in Vegas (Corbis via Getty Images)During a boozy night out with childhood friend Jason Allen Alexander, Britney shocked the world by tying the knot with him in Vegas. The pair eloped to the Little White Wedding Chapel where a member of the hotel staff escorted her down the aisle to her groom while she wore jeans and a baseball cap.
Their drunken wedding sparked a showbiz scandal - which only ballooned when, 55 hours later, a more sober Britney filed to annul the marriage. In her book, she revealed: "People have asked me if I loved him. To be clear: he and I were not in love. I was just honestly very drunk — and probably, in a more general sense at that time in my life, very bored."
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Her parents, Jamie and Lynne Spears, were furious about the impromptu wedding, she writes. "They made way too big a deal out of innocent fun. Everybody has a different perspective on it, but I didn't take it that seriously. I thought a goof-around Vegas wedding was something people might do as a joke. Then my family came and acted like I'd started World War III. I cried the whole rest of the time I was in Las Vegas."
Kevin Federline
Britney married second husband Kevin three months after they first met (WireImage for Ogilvy Public Relations)Britney went on to marry backup dancer Kevin - who had worked with her ex, Justin - just three months after they met at a club in 2004. The couple welcomed sons Sean Preston in September 2005 and Jayden James in September 2006, but two months after their youngest's arrival Britney filed for divorce, citing "irreconcilable differences". Since then the pair have had a number of messy custody arrangements and Britney is currently estranged from her sons.
Who else has Britney dated?
After their split, in January 2007, Britney was romantically linked to model Isaac Cohen when they were spotted messing around on powerboats in Marina Del Rey in California. She went on to date paparazzo Adnan Ghalib in December 2007 while he was still married, but in March 2009 Britney's dad took out a restraining order against him to prevent him from seeing or contacting the singer for three years.
Photographer Adnan Ghalib was prevented from speaking to Britney for three years after their split (WireImage)
Britney with one-time boyfriend David Lucado at Elton John's AIDS Foundation Oscars party in March 2014 (Getty Images North America)Next came a brief fling with music producer J.R Rotem, followed by a romance with her own agent, Jason Trawick in 2009. After two years of dating he resigned as her agent and took a more active role at home with her sons, to the point where Britney requested he be made a co-conservator along with her dad. In 2011 Jason popped the question and appeared in her music video for single Criminal.
But in January 2013 things fell apart and Britney and Jason split. "I'll always adore him and we will remain great friends," she said in a statement at the time. Jason added: "As this chapter ends for us a new one begins. I love and cherish her and her boys and we will be close forever."
In March 2013 she met David Lucado at a party and the couple embarked on a whirlwind romance, cut short 18 months later in August 2014 when Britney discovered a video of him kissing another woman. She claimed to an audience at her Vegas show that he'd cheated on her, and just weeks later the singer was linked to TV producer Charlie Ebersol.
Britney with her agent-turned-lover Jason Trawick in September 2011 (PA)
Britney while she was dating producer Charlie Ebersol at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards (FilmMagic)After they met through her assistant, Charlie seduced Britney by cooking her dinner. "There was something about him that made me feel really peaceful and at ease," she said at the time. "And he was really hot, too. Adorably hot." But just as fans thought Brit had found the real deal, in June 2015 the couple suddenly split having lost their spark.
In October 2016 she met future third husband Sam Asghari on the set of her Slumber Party video, but didn't call him until five months later when she discovered his phone number in her bag. The pair quickly got together, shocking fans when they publicly revealed their relationship on Instagram in early 2017.
In September 2021 Sam proposed, and the pair wed at a lavish Los Angeles wedding in June 2022, surrounded by celebrity pals including Paris Hilton, Madonna and Selena Gomez. But in late July 2023 Sam filed for divorce, later claiming on Instagram: "AFTER 6 YEARS OF LOVE AND COMMITMENT TO EACH OTHER MY WIFE AND I HAVE DECIDED TO END OUR JOURNEY TOGETHER. WE WILL HOLD ONTO THE LOVE AND RESPECT WE HAVE FOR EACH OTHER AND I WISH HER THE BEST ALWAYS." Britney has not addressed her relationship with Sam in her new book.