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Already accused of cashing in on her sister’s fame, Jamie Lynn’s I’m A Celebrity appearance is causing further ructions, says Jessica Barrett
ALL FAMILIES FIGHT , but the Spears family’s rift is so extreme it’s made headlines all year. Britney published her bombshell memoir, The Woman In Me, in October, detailing the 13 years of mistreatment she was subjected to at the hands of her family as a result of a strict conser vatorship. During this time, Britney claims, they profited from her while she was forced to work and perform against her will (her father has maintained that the conser vatorship was for her own good). ‘The conser vatorship stripped me of my womanhood, made me into a child,’ Britney said.
In the book, Jamie Lynn is portrayed to be as much of a villain as Britney’s parents, Jamie and Lynn. In one chapter, Britney describes her as a ‘total bitch’. Sources told tabloid sites that the family was keen to keep calm and carry on amid the drama the book had caused, indeed, none of them has publicly responded to Britney’s words. This made the news that Jamie Lynn had signed up to appear on the latest series of ITV’s I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here all the more shocking. Did she need the money that badly, users on social media pondered (and the money is good: her problematic camp mate Nigel Farage bagged a rumoured £1.5m), or was it an attempt to rehabilitate her public image after what has been a terrible year for brand Jamie Lynn Spears ? While viewers joked that the former Nickelodeon star was going to great lengths not to mention her famous sister in her introductory VT on I’m A Celeb’s inaugural episode (‘I’m best known for being a singer and an actress,’ she said, ignoring the Britney-shaped elephant in the confessional room), she eventually opened up to First Dates maître d’ Fred Sirieix during a fireside heart to heart, claiming that she had spoken to her sister before flying to Australia. When he asked about her family drama, Jamie Lynn said, ‘I think every family fights and has their stuff but I talked to her before I came here and we love each other.’ She added that she’d sought legal advice about emancipation when she found out she was pregnant at just 16, in an attempt to distance herself from her controlling parents.
This directly conflicts with reports that suggested Britney was actually deeply unhappy about Jamie Lynn’s appearance o
