Once again, Britney Spears is ready for her comeback. Unlike last year’s attempt, however — when a disastrous performance at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards turned her into a punch line — the fallen pop star seems to stand a fighting chance this time.But who exactly was the old Britney Spears? In her new memoir, Through the Storm, which hit stores on Sept. 16, Britney’s own mother, Lynne Spears, admits that Brit’s teenage years — during which Britney rose to superstardom — were considerably less wholesome than the public was led to believe. Now friends of the Spears family have opened up to Life & Style, revealing just how manipulated and manufactured nearly every aspect of young Britney’s life was.
“From early on, Britney’s team had one agenda: promoting the image of Britney as a good Southern girl,” says a family insider. “But her reality was a completely different story.” As the world now knows, Brit eventually rebelled against her girl-next-door image, becoming a twice-married mother of two by the time she was 25. After suffering a mental collapse in early 2008, she finally seems to be on the road to permanent recovery.
Now fans old and new want nothing more than for Britney to get back on top. But is she finally the one in control — or is she once again being forced into the role of happy, bubbly superstar?
-Life&Style
