A clip of Britney Spears discussing how she felt about her conservatorship has aired for the first time, after it was edited out of an interview on The Jonathan Ross Show eight years ago.
The pop star appeared on the ITV chat show in 2016 to promote her album, Glory, where she addressed the challenges she had faced including being “told what to do”.
Spears sounded visibly frustrated as she spoke about how things had been “planned for me to do” while under the controversial conservatorship, which saw her father, Jamie Spears, placed in control of her business and personal affairs for 13 years.
The never-before-seen footage, which was released as part of a “memorable moments” special from the long-running talk show, finally aired on Sunday 10 November.
In “Special Guests”, Ross could be seen asking Spears: “The new album… you are more involved in this, musically, I understand, than previous ones? So you’ve taken control. You’re more in control of your music than before?”
He added: “Why did it take you so long? Why did you wait ‘til now to do it?”
Hesitating slightly, Spears responded: “Well, there are a lot of reasons, but I won’t get into the whole story.”
Ross interjected to reassure her that viewers knew “a lot” of her history, including her mental health issues that became the subject of a tabloid frenzy in 2007, adding that she did “not have to go over” anything she didn’t feel comfortable.
Appearing reassured, Spears continued: “Since the conservatorship… I felt like a lot of [things] were planned for me to do and, you know, being told what to do.
“And I was just like, for this [album] I want to make it my baby, and I want to do it myself, and I was very strategic about the way I did it, and, um, yeah, that’s why it means so much to me.”
The “Toxic” singer was notoriously prevented from mentioning her conservatorship in public, possibly explaining why her remarks were cut from the final episode.
However, a number of studio audience members disclosed the moment on social media, including Noisey writer Grace Medford.
Another guest shared on X/Twitter: “She really looked like she wanted to talk about it but Jonathan changed the subject cuz he couldn’t talk about it [sic].”
Spears herself also mentioned the edit in her bestselling 2023 memoir, The Woman in Me, recalling: “I even mentioned the conservatorship on a talk show in 2016, but somehow, that part of the interview didn’t make it to the air.”
“Huh,” she added. “How interesting.”
A judge in Los Angeles released Spears from her conservatorship in November 2021, a moment Spears described as “the best day ever”.
The Independent has contacted ITV for comment.
