’80s baby Britney Spears grew up doing stage performances and television shows as a child before she signed a record deal and entered the music industry on the big stage as a fresh young teenager with a new sound and great looks. She rapidly rose through the ranks and topped all the charts, producing lasting hits such as Baby Hit Me One More Time, Oops… I Did It Again and Toxic. Through her popularity, she revived interest in teen pop in the ’90s and earned the title Princess of Pop.
But as successful and glamorous as she was, Britney is best known for her meltdown in 2007. The pressures of her high-octane lifestyle and the physical and mental toll on her body began to build up before she finally broke. Unfortunately for her, the breakdown was public and legendary. She's often used as an example of what not to do for young stars nowadays. But what actually happened to Britney post-crash? Fans are still loyal and curious about the pop star in this shiny new year of 2018 and want to know all they can about her. We know she survived and has two cute boys, but what else is going on in her life? Here's a short list of things about Britney today that some of us might not know about.
15 Relationships First
We all know that Britney married dancer Kevin Federline in summer 2004. The media was all over it at the time. Britney took a career break and gave birth to two baby boys in 2005 and 2006. She was largely criticized for driving with her oldest in her lap at one point.
Toward the end of 2006, Britney filed for divorce from Kevin—stating irreconcilable differences, and it was finalized in summer 2007. They agreed to share joint custody of their boys.
After the divorce, she dated Isaac Cohen briefly in 2007, Adnan Ghalib from 2007 to 2009 (then had to get a restraining order against him), her agent Jason Trawick from 2009 to 2013, David Lucado briefly in 2013 to 2014 and Charlie Ebersol in 2014 to 2015, before meeting current boyfriend Sam in 2016.
14 Pre-Teen Boys
Britney has two boys named Sean and Jayden from her marriage to Kevin. Sean is 12, and his brother is 11. They're right on the edge of puberty and will soon begin their rebellious teen phase, but something tells us Britney will be able to handle that. Losing custody of her boys briefly after her meltdown was the wake-up call for help that she needed, and she got sober before fighting for her boys, regaining custody eventually.
She now largely keeps her sons out of the spotlight but still shares photos and videos of them on her Instagram—which is a normal proud mom thing to do. Apparently, Sean is an aspiring DJ and helps his famous mother with her albums, displaying a budding taste in music and talent that will take him far.
13 Sweet Sweet Sam
Britney met her current sweetheart, Sam Asghari, in 2016 and they started going out shortly after that. There is a considerable age difference between them as Britney is 36 and Sam is 23, but the couple does well together and don't seem too phased by this.
While Britney has no set plans that we know of, we do know from rumors and interviews that she's madly in love with her Iranian model and that he's a perfect fit for her and her energetic boys. She'd someday like to settle down and get married, but she isn't in a rush.
What she does want is to have a baby girl. She's got the two boys she had when she was young and immature, now she wants something pink to dote on and that's completely understandable. Her boys would probably love a baby sister.
12 Blonde Bombshell
One of the most obvious differences between meltdown Britney and current Britney is that her hair grew back. She now struts around with waves of long blonde hair flowing freely. The loss of her hair was a very sure sign that not all was well with the star. Nowadays, in addition to her healthy-looking locks, Britney also has a nice glowing complexion, which could be the combined results of quality makeup and mindful eating habits.
She still indulges in fudge though, so it's not all kale smoothies and salads for this icon. And her fashion sense has matured, moving on from the mini-skirts of the ’90s and her teenage days to more mom-appropriate trendy looks. She's unmistakable in her photos, however, as she'll always that unique Britney Spears vibe no matter her age, health status or clothing choices.
11 Tradesy
The classic Britney that we're all familiar with was heavily into partying, illegal substance abuse, junk food and late-night raves at the time of her meltdown. She was in and out of various rehabilitation centers and facilities in 2007, as she tried to cope with her life changes and get things back under control. Now she has a nice relaxing routine of waking up every morning, having some breakfast and working out.
She stays fit and healthy rather than going out to party. As far as we know, she's also given up substance abuse for good, and spends her free time with her boys and boyfriend. She also indulges in yoga and Double Stuf Oreo cookies. At least she's normal like the rest of us and prone to cheat days and cravings.
10 Benefits Of Breakdown
Aside from the obvious benefit of her breakdown, which resulted in Britney finally getting the help she needed and changing many things about her life, another benefit was becoming an example of what not to do. This might not be the greatest thing to happen, but she can use it if her boys ever get too rowdy.
They're living with a perfect example of why substance abuse l in excess at a young age can ruin someone's life. Then there's the general public who can look at Britney's breakdown and decide for themselves not to go down that road. It can also encourage others; if she can survive something like that and come out looking as healthy, successful and happy as she does today, then so can we.
9 Sin City
Britney and her little family currently live in a gated community in the fashionably sunny Las Vegas near where she works doing resident shows and performances of brand new songs and old hits. For a time, it seemed like she would up and move when her contract expired, but her boys are established in school and with their little community. Plus, her performing schedule suited her family life schedule, so why should she try to fix something that isn't broken?
She signed another contract and has sold out shows, which pays the bills and keeps her occupied in the industry she loves. Of course, her success hasn't gone unnoticed and her ex-husband has tried to weasel more child support money from her to get a piece of her pie, but he was unsuccessful.
8 Fragrances Galore
Ever since 2004, Britney has been teaming up with Elizabeth Arden to release unique fragrances, which are wildly successful and always sell out during release week. Her first was titled Curious and came with a bonus CD. It was the number one fragrance of 2004. Fast forward to 2018 and Britney has released her 24th fragrance in January. She titled it Sunset Fantasy and invited buyers to “experience summer in a bottle.”
While gorgeously packaged and selling well, we can only share photos because no one has invented a way to share scents over the internet yet. We can also assume that (like any good designer), Britney wears her own fragrances to promote them. Designing her own perfumes is like a very successful hobby for the star and hopefully, she'll keep doing it.
7 Britney Nation
Even though she's a Vegas resident and happily situated with a schedule that suits her, Britney still occasionally does tours. This year she is doing her Piece of Me tour in the summer, which is a one-time-only tour. The tickets almost instantly sold out all along the East Coast and in other major cities where she's scheduled to appear.
The show features 24 of Britney's hit songs with updated choreography and other special effects we can only see in concerts. Show openers are rumored to be other big names in the musical world, such as Ed Sheeran. When her show first went live in Vegas, fans were wowed and loved the special touch of Britney donning some of her iconic outfits from her musical past for certain songs.
6 Fashion Forward
Britney was approached by the creative minds behind the clothing company Kenzo to promote their nod to the ’80s fashion line of clothing called La Collection Memento Spring 2018. While the ’80s weren't fashionably great for Britney (giant hair bows anyone?), she agreed to collaborate because she's a fashion designer herself and enjoys Kenzo’s designs.
Now she's the face of Kenzo's spring collection and looks good rocking her various denim outfits and near-trendy takes on older styles. Her own personal style has evolved to a mom-friendly, practical bohemian look that is often in shades of white or ivory.
This makes her red carpet appearances all the more stunning because we all know how much fun it is to get dressed up for events in something sparkling. She says she's changed the way she dresses out of consideration and respect for her boys but admires the younger generation's taste.
5 Brit The Bookworm
Sometimes stars will take to social media (in this case, Tumblr) and open up a surprise Q&A for the fans to ask them anything they want to. During one of these sessions, a fan asked what Britney enjoys doing in her spare time. She responded by saying she loves to read books. This is great news for bookworms everywhere as we feel more connected to the stars if they share similar bookish interests that we do.
Her favorite author is Danielle Steel, a very popular bestseller who is known for her steamy romances. Steel has written over 100 books which have all been bestsellers and 20 were turned into successful films, so Britney has quite a selection to chose from whenever she feels the need for a little steamy chick-lit.
4 Television Time
Another fan on Tumblr chimed in with a question concerning TV shows and which was Britney's favorite. She immediately responded with Sex and The City as her main go-to show—very glamorous choice (this makes us wonder which character she identifies with the most), followed by Friends as a close second (this show is notoriously easy to re-watch over and over again while still getting laughs and enjoyment from it), and her current favorite show was Breaking Bad.
Now, who doesn't love a good bad boy? Breaking Bad has quite the selection of good-looking bad boys to choose from along with an interesting compelling plot to keep us all glued to the screen and at the edge of our seats in anticipation as Netflix loads up the next episode for us.
3 More Than A Singer
One of Britney's newest hobbies is to paint. She acquired canvases and paints then set up shop in her backyard and went to work painting her favorite subject: pink flowers. While the results are no Monet, she enjoyed the process and sent her first painting to be auctioned off for charitable proceeds. The painting sold for $10,000, and all the proceeds went to Vegas Shares which is commissioning a memorable art piece to honor the victims of the Las Vegas shooting.
The painting was first revealed in progress in an Instagram video posted by Britney which showed her in her garden intensely painting away. The caption read, “Sometimes you just gotta play.” This tells us just how much fun she had painted and how relaxing the activity was for her. She'll likely keep painting and get better and better.
2 Giving Back
When she's not performing, painting or parenting, Britney is involved in charitable work. After her own charity, The Britney Spears Foundation, closed down, she's been donating to various organizations such as the Red Cross Foundation, Keep A Child Alive, Kids Wish Network, Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes, John Elton AIDS Foundation, Dress for Success, Save The Children and many others.
All of this shows that Britney has a big heart and wants to help in any way she can—the easiest and most influential way, of course, being to sign a nice check. She's spoken at other events and drawn attention to the causes she supports and cares the most about which keeps the interest going. She's also setting a good example for her boys by giving to those who truly need the help and assistance.
1 Bright Future
Despite a troubled past and some rocky teen years ahead of her, Britney Spears is doing very well in 2018 and has a lot going for her. She's happily occupied in work, healthy relationships and various hobbies that don’t include substance abuse or shaving her head bare.
Where she'll go in the next 10 years we can only imagine, but it'll likely be upwards and onwards in a positive light and she'll keep improving herself, her image and her lifestyle. Each step she takes forward helps to heal and erase her painful past until it'll just be a footnote in her biography someday. Her positive growth and achievements will stand out brighter and clearer than one troubled year, and she has a legacy in her children which will continue to shine for years afterward.
Sources: VanityFair, Vogue, Mirror, UsMagazine, Ranker
