Jamie Lynn Spears said she spoke to her superstar sister Britney before coming on to I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!
In Monday’s episode of the reality TV show, the 32-year-old American actress and singer opened up to First Dates star Fred Sirieix about her family and the challenges she faced after falling pregnant as a teenager.
Spears, who is one of 10 contestants who has entered the Australian jungle, is the younger sister of 41-year-old Toxic singer Britney.
Speaking to the actress about her background, Sirieix asked: “Your sister is obviously a superstar, you’re a superstar, why? How come the both of you, what made it?”
She replied: “I think every family fights and has their stuff. I talked to her before I came here and we love each other.”
Reflecting on how she rose to fame, she said she grew up singing and dancing, and went on to perform in children’s shows All That and Zoey 101.
The actress recalled that she then became pregnant aged 16 and “hid” in Mississippi due to the media attention on her.
She said: “I had 20 paparazzi on me every day. They wouldn’t leave me alone. They came and lived in Mississippi, middle of nowhere. It was horrible. I hated it so much.
“I just wanted to be normal. I wanted my baby to be normal. Everybody told me I was going to be a horrible mum. So I was like ‘I’ve got to raise this baby by myself’, and I did.”
Spears added that “a lot of people” around her did not want her to have the baby and said at the time she planned to emancipate her parents.
She added: “My poor mum, we put her through it…She didn’t want me to do that, she knew that would mean I’d probably marry the father and lose my fortune that I’d amassed over the years of working since I was very young.
“She said ‘Just go baby…’. It was the first time in my world I had no one else, I was in control.”
In the Bush Telegraph, Jamie Lynn said: “I’m proud of where I’m at now. I don’t share it in a way of being sad or crying about it… I’m really thankful.”
Later in the episode, Spears appeared visibly emotional as she admitted she missed her children.
To cheer her up, her fellow campmates – Sirieix, EastEnders star Danielle Harold, radio DJ Sam Thompson and YouTuber Nella Rose – banded together to run her a bath.
JLS singer Marvin Humes also provided some musical accompaniment as he sang a rendition of Let Me Love You by US singer Mario.
In the Bush Telegraph, Spears added: “It was so nice, they were literally serenading me and bathing me.
“It was so funny, it was wonderful. I don’t think my husband’s ever done anything like that for me. It was so nice.”
I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! continues on Tuesday November 21 at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.