Jamie Lynn Spears has spoken out about the current state of her relationship with sister Britney Spears.
via: People
While talking to TV presenter Fred Sirieix on Saturday’s episode of the U.K. reality TV show I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here, the 32-year-old actress opened up about growing up alongside the pop superstar and commented on how she feels about Britney today.
Sieieix, 51, brought up the topic by asking Jamie Lynn to recall her memories of Britney’s infamous kiss with Madonna on the 2003 MTV VMAs and explain how it came to be. “They just did it. I was at home watching like, ‘Oh OK, this will be fun tomorrow at school, can’t wait,'” she said.
Jamie Lynn then spoke about looking up to her sister from a young age. “Anything my sister did I always thought was the best,” she explained. “When it came to my sister, even if I felt anything, if anyone said anything I was ready to go. I was like, ‘Don’t talk about my sister, she’s the best.’ ”
She added of Britney and Madonna’s iconic VMAs performance, which also featured Christina Aguilera and Missy Elliott: “And so literally I just thought — and, by the way, in today’s world it would mean nothing — but it was this iconic moment that they went with, and it happened, and it’s what they did.”
Thinking back to when the performance occurred, Jamie Lynn said of her mother Lynne’s reaction, “My mum was like, ‘It’s artistic, she’s expressing herself.’ ”
Sieieix curiously asked the Sweet Magnolias star, “Who became famous first?”
Jamie Lynn responded of Britney, 41, “My sister, she’s 10 years older. She was famous since I was about 6 or 7.”
Fellow contestant Frankie Dettori then chimed into the conversation, asking Jamie Lynn, “Is it true you don’t get on with [Britney] now?”
She simply replied, “I love my sister.”
For season 23 of the series, the mom of two flew to the Australian outback to compete to be crowned Queen of the Jungle alongside controversial former U.K. politician Nigel Farage.
Prior to flying to Australia, the Zoey 101 alum said the show was “a nice chance to show who I really am.” She added, “There is literally every misconception you can have on a person about me so I don’t take any of it seriously.”
One of the biggest controversies in Jamie Lynn’s life is her strained relationship with her older sister. Despite their nearly 10-year age gap, Britney and Jamie Lynn — who recently competed on Dancing with the Stars — shared a close bond while growing up in their hometown of Kentwood, Louisiana.
Throughout most of their lives and careers, Britney and Jamie Lynn supported each other and worked on projects together, including Britney’s film debut Crossroads and Zoey 101. But in recent years — as Britney’s 13-year conservatorship came to an end — their relationship became strained, and the two publicly feuded over the release of Jamie Lynn’s memoir, Things I Should Have Said: Family, Fame, and Figuring it Out in January 2022.
“I love and I support my sister, and I always will. It’s very clear that this has been a painful process, and I have to respect however she works through that,” Jamie Lynn told PEOPLE at the time, two months after Britney’s conservatorship ended. “This is a complicated situation. It gets to a certain point where you can’t help someone who doesn’t want you to.”
Meanwhile, in her bombshell memoir, The Woman In Me, which was released in October and exclusively previewed in PEOPLE, Britney has opened up about their troubled relationship.
“[Jamie Lynn] knew I was reaching out to her for help and that she was dogging me. I felt like she should have taken my side,” Britney shared about being placed in a mental health facility in 2018.
The star also expresses her opinion that Jamie Lynn profited from her unhappiness. “As I was fighting the conservatorship and receiving a lot of press attention, she was writing a book capitalizing on it. She rushed out salacious stories about me, many of them hurtful and outrageous,” Britney shared in her memoir.
However, Britney also writes of her hopes that her relationship with Jamie Lynn is salvageable.
“She will always be my sister, and I love her and her beautiful family. I’m working to feel more compassion than anger toward her, and everyone who I feel has wronged me,” the “Hold Me Closer” singer shared.
