Jamie Lynn Spears spoke out about her once fractured relationship with her sister Britney during Saturday’s episode of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!
The actress and singer, 32, insisted she’s learned not to speak publicly about any difficulties between her and her pop star sibling, 41, but admitted her family ‘fights better than most’.
American star Jamie claimed both she and Britney had ‘complicated’ upbringings which they’d both dealt with in different ways but, despite their differences, Britney would be ‘concerned’ about her suffering in the jungle.
She insisted Britney would be ‘checking on me heavily’ and would have been concerned about her daily crying at the start of this year’s ITV series.
In camp, Sam asked Jamie Lynn: ‘Do Britney’s kids really like you? Are you like the cool aunt? Do you think she’s watching you on this?’
Jamie Lynn said: ‘I can imagine she’d be worried about me on here. I think she’s probably checking in on me heavily.
‘I do think she’s probably like, “Why would she do that?” She asked me that before I came here, she was like, “You’re really going to do it?” I was like, “I’m going to go to Australia and check it out.”
‘My crying, she’d probably be like, “Ya’ll get her the f*** out of there, right now!” She’s a good big sister, she is.
‘Yeah, I love her. Me and her throw down. The world’s seen that. I’ve learned to stop talking about it publicly, but you know what, family’s fight. Listen, we just do it better than most.’
Sam replied: ‘But everyone does man. Everyone’s got stuff they argue about all the time.’
Jamie Lynn said: ‘Me and her both have had a very complicated upbringing. We’ve had very complicated circumstances and we both had to deal with them in different ways.
‘Sometimes we took it out on each other when perhaps we shouldn’t have.
‘I’ve never, ever… I’ve been the one person in her life – and she can say this – I’ve never taken anything from her, you know? I’ve been the one person in her life who’s always said, “I just want to be your sister”.
‘We just had a really weird life so we can’t explain it to many people, but at the end of the road I know that that’s my family, I love them.’
It comes after I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! viewers mocked Jamie Lynn Spears as the camp fell into silence when she insisted she loved her famous sister Britney.
Jamie Lynn insisted ‘I love my sister’ when retired jockey Frankie Dettori, 52, asked her if it was true she and her older sister did not get along during Friday’s episode.
While Jamie Lynn did not deny rumours of a falling out, she did say she loved her sister, prompting the rest of her campmates to sit in silence after hearing her words.
Viewers of the show took to Twitter to mock the situation after the scene aired on Friday, with one person writing: ‘“Yeah I love my sister…” I bet you do Jamie Lynn after hiring the woman who created her conservatorship as your business manager.’
Someone else wrote: ‘Big Brother’s bird noises would’ve had more personality than Jamie Lynn admitting to loving her sister “enthusiastically”.’
Another person wrote: ‘Love Frankie for asking Jamie Lynn the questions no one else is brave enough to ask!’
While someone else shared: ‘Love Frankie straight to the point with Jamie Lynn.’
Britney is said to have imposed a strict ban on her sister Jamie Lynn ahead of her stint on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here, warning her not to mention her name as the pair attempt to rebuild their relationship.
Britney reportedly finds it ‘sad’ that her estranged younger sister continues to use her stardom to make money, and has encouraged her to land contracts in her own right.
‘Britney banned Jamie Lynn from talking about her,’ a source told DailyMail.com exclusively. ‘She told her to, for once, make her money without feeling the need to use her sister’s name to get a contract.
‘For Jamie Lynn’s entire career, every show, every appearance, every interview is Britney, Britney, Britney. It’s just sad.’
The insider cited Jamie Lynn’s short-lived spot on Fox’s Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test – which aired a clip of Jamie Lynn in tears while discussing her self-esteem issues brought on by being Britney’s sister.
‘The producers used it as an opportunity for her to dish on Britney and she did, tears and all. It was perfect for what they needed out of her,’ the source continued.
‘Britney told Jamie Lynn when she was cast on I’m A Celebrity that she does not want to hear her crying again about how she was always living in her sisters shadows. Jamie Lynn has played that record so many times already Britney just wants her to keep her name out of it.’
Swerving questions will no doubt help the estranged sisters to rebuild their relationship, with the insider adding: ‘Britney is communicating with her sister at this time and it is a work in progress. She has always been forced to play the role of mother to Jamie Lynn and still feels that sort of responsibility.’
The source said that Britney has come to a place of forgiveness over Jamie Lynn’s role in her painful conservatorship.
‘Britney realised that she cannot put the blame on her sister like she can her parents,’ they said.
Britney’s request for Jamie Lynn to keep her name out of her mouth comes after a slew of reality television appearances, and interviews, in which she brought up her sister.
In January, Jamie Lynn was cast in Fox’s grueling reality competition show, Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test.
During the first episode, Jamie Lynn broke down in tears as she discussed Britney achieving global fame when she was just a child, admitting she wants to prove that she is ‘worth something’ too.
‘Growing up, my sister became famous, worldwide famous, when I was very young,’ Jamie Lynn said.
‘I guess I just wanna like [proving that] I’m just like worth something. I’m so proud of her, love her to death, but I don’t know. Sometimes I feel like I don’t really have anything for myself,’ she added.
Jamie Lynn quit during episode two, citing her daughter’s as the reason or her departure. She has Maddie, 14, and Ivey, five.
‘Like, I just can’t do it one more night. I can’t do it,’ Jamie Lynn said while confiding in Spice Girl Mel B, 47, at the start of the episode.
In October, Jamie Lynn became a contestant on Dancing With The Stars and, according to Variety, earned $125,000, which is the standard pay for a celebrity who completes rehearsals and two weeks of competition.
Jamie Lynn and her partner Alan Bersten, were booted during week two after scoring 16 out of 30 for their cha-cha routine.
Bosses were said to be furious at her early exit – because they had allegedly been planning for an ‘incredible’ on-screen reunion between the actress and Britney.
In Britney’s recent memoir The Woman In Me, she dragged Jamie Lynn for a response she got from her sister when she reached out about the abusive conservatorship she was held in by her father Jamie Spears, for 13 years.
In a text message, Britney claimed that Jamie Lynn told her: ‘Stop fighting it. There is nothing that you can do about it, so stop fighting it.’
Jamie Lynn expressed her own issues with Britney in her 2022 memoir Things I Should Have Said: Family, Fame, and Figuring it Out.
The actress didn’t hold back when asked in an interview about an accusation she made in the book that Britney once locked them in a room together while holding a knife – a claim that Britney later refuted.
During a sit-down interview with Juju Chang on Nightline in January 2022, Jamie Lynn was asked why she included it in her memoir.
‘First off, I think that experiencing my own panic attacks and how sometimes we can feel in those moments is important, but also it’s important to remember I was a kid in that moment,’ she replied.
‘I was scared. That was a moment I had. I also was fearful to really say anything because I didn’t want to upset anybody, but I also was so upset that she didn’t feel safe.’
In her book she described Britney’s behavior over the years as ‘erratic, paranoid and spiraling.’
Jamie Lynn also recounted an incident, years later, when Britney was ‘screaming’ in her face.
‘She cursed at me and so I just walked out of the room, we’re all family, I’m not trying to argue. When I tried to remove myself from the situation, that’s when I guess she got really angry and my oldest daughter tried to mediate the situation. I hated that,’ she wrote.
‘That’s not what you’re supposed to do, you’re 12. [My parents] told me I can’t upset Britney. I’m like, you saw me and my children get upset, when will that matter?’
Britney refuted many of the claims made in her sister’s memoir, which is now being sold in dollar stores for $1.25.
She accused Jamie Lynn of profiting from her career in an Instagram post following the book’s release. She wrote: ‘I wish the almighty Lord would could come down and show the whole world that you’re lying and making money off of me.’ She added: ‘You are scum Jamie Lynn.’
I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! continues Sunday 26 November at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
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