Alan Carr recalls ‘weird’ backstage encounter with Britney Spears

British comedian Alan Carr has recalled his bizarre experience interviewing Britney Spears at the height of her conservatorship.

British comedian Alan Carr says interviewing Britney Spears in 2013 was anything but what he’d expected.

Speaking to news.com.au’s I’ve Got News For You podcast to promote his upcoming Regional Trinket comedy tour of Australia, Carr recalled having the singer on his show Chatty Man at the height of her now-defunct conservatorship in 2013, recounting odd moments backstage during which Spears’ team wouldn’t let her speak for herself.

While at the time he thought she was simply not that interested in speaking to him, now that she’s revealed the amount of control her team had over her during the 13-year legal arrangement led by her father, Carr said it now “made sense”.

During the sit down interview that went to air, Spears and Carr had a bubbly exchange before Carr took the popstar backstage to mockingly whip staff and encourage them to “Work b*tch,” mirroring the lyrics of her hit song.

Carr and Spears had a lively chat on the show.

Later, the singer followed Carr backstage to ‘whip’ staff members into shape.

But behind the scenes, it was a different story.

“Every time I asked her a question someone would come in and answer for her,” Carr recalled.

“(I asked) ‘So how long are you in London for?’ ‘Till Thursday.’ ‘Are you seeing any sites?’ ‘No’ … and I thought, well, that’s a bit strange.

“And of course, you don’t for a minute think that this big icon … is being held … against her will,” he said.

He went on to say that every time he went to offer her a drink or ask how she was going, someone would step in and say, “she’s fine”.

“She was there in front of me, and I just thought this is so weird … I just got the impression she was bored of it all.

“You don’t think for a million years that someone of that stature is being told what to do and … (Didn’t) she say she was drugged and stuff like that?” he questioned of recent claims she was medicated and forced to perform against her will.

Carr said he thought Spears seemed ‘bored of it all’ at the time.

The interview took place shortly before the star embarked on her Piece of Me Las Vegas residency, which lasted from 2013 to 2017.

Spears, now 40, has since revealed those four years were some of the most tightly-controlled years of her life, claiming she was only allowed out twice.

A second residency, Britney: Domination, was cancelled weeks before it was due to start in 2019, with Spears announcing she was going on an “indefinite work hiatus”.

The announcement sparked scrutiny into the singer’s private life and spawned the #FreeBritney social media movement as details of her conservatorship came to light.

Spears performing in Vegas in 2016.

In November 2021, the singer won a court battle to be freed from the arrangement, going on to reveal what went on during the 13 years of her life.

In a bombshell 22-minute YouTube video released last month, the Toxic singer spoke in detail about the terms of her conservatorship.

Spears claimed she was sent away to a mental health facility against her will in 2019 as a punishment for voicing her opinions during rehearsals for her cancelled Vegas residency Domination.

“I didn’t want to ever go there. I remember calling my dad on the phone crying, and he said ‘You have to listen to the doctors. I can’t help you now.’”

She said she hated her time in the facility and it made her briefly stop believing in god.

“How did they get away with it, and what the f**k did I do to deserve that?” she asks in the video.

Spears went on to say she started to become aware of the #FreeBritney campaign around the same time, as fans demanded more transparency about her conservatorship. This led to her eventually ceasing contact with her father, and engaging a lawyer of her own to start the process of trying to extricate herself from the conservatorship, which she did successfully last year.

Spears made her first foray back into the music business in August with the Elton John duet Hold Me Closer.

Alan Carr is bringing his Regional Trinket comedy tour to Australia this November and December. For tour info and ticket details head to alancarr.net

Originally published as Alan Carr recalls ‘weird’ backstage encounter with Britney Spears