Ellen's First Interview With Britney Spears Was A Big Surprise

Summary

• Britney Spears had a positive interview experience on The Ellen Show in 2004 and returned to the show multiple times over the years.
• Ellen DeGeneres surprised fans by staying on topic and asking Britney about her career and life without bringing up controversies.
• There are rumors that Britney may do a post-conservatorship interview, possibly with Piers Morgan, to promote her memoir.

At the height of her fame as a pop star, Britney Spears was on the interview circuit more often than not. She seemed to become a pro at interviews early on; Britney even handled Ed McMahon's creepy comments well as a ten-year-old. Clearly, not every interview was easy or comfortable for Britney, and journalists have an odd habit of asking her awkward questions.

Remember the time Diane Sawyer pressed Britney about everything other than her music? It's no wonder Britney has shied away from live interviews for a long time, even when releasing new music. But there have been bright spots in her interview history. For example, Ellen DeGeneres shocked fans by how well she handled Britney's first-ever appearance on her show, and Spears even returned multiple times over the years.

Britney Spears First Appeared On The Ellen Show In 2004

Back in 2004, when she was a superstar but still made the talk show circuit, Britney Spears appeared on The Ellen Show for the first time.

Though Britney has long avoided live interviews, she did return to Ellen's set nine more times over the years; Spears' last appearance on Ellen was in 2018. During that surprise appearance, Britney said she was there to 'make an announcement that she had an announcement.'

The bit ended with Ellen saying she would lend Britney her YouTube channel to make the actual announcement, which turned out to be the fact that Britney was embarking on a Vegas residency. It was a nice wrap-up to Britney's run on Ellen, especially as The Ellen Show ended a few years later (in 2022).

During that first interview, things were different, but not in a bad way; Ellen handled herself very well, according to viewers.

Ellen DeGeneres Led A Surprisingly On-Topic Interview With Britney

Unfortunately, Ellen DeGeneres does not have the best reputation for staying on topic during interviews with guests, and fans feared the worst when Britney Spears first went on. Luckily, it turned out they had the wrong idea (at least this time).

Ellen has been accused of putting guests on the spot, like the time Kunal Nayyar appeared on Ellen but wound up looking bad when she asked what fans felt were unfair questions.

Even Justin Bieber had an awkward Ellen interview, where the host asked him about his crush on Rihanna and whether he had actually asked the singer out. Her history of asking celebrity guests about their personal lives rather than their projects is one reason why fans anticipated an awkward interview with Britney Spears, too.

Yet when Spears appeared alongside DeGeneres, the interview went surprisingly well, according to fans.

Ellen complimented Britney's talent while reminiscing over one of her early performance clips, asked about her dance routine pre-tour, and queried Britney as to how she kept up her energy while on tour.

Ellen even asked Britney about her challenges with fame but left the question open-ended, so that Britney could express herself. In what would later seem like a tragic indicator of Britney's future, she spoke about ignoring the tabloids and just doing her thing.

"I try not to pay too much attention to like tabloids and stuff like that, of what they say about you and everything and um just kinda, I don't know go home and hang out with your girlfriends, and you know, do stuff like that... But yeah it can get a bit grueling sometimes.

Ellen praised then-22-year-old Britney for handling fame so well, then asked Britney a bit about her fitness routine (in the context of Ellen wanting to learn her situps schedule). Later, the two discussed Britney's upcoming tour and how she was preparing.

Ellen did ask Britney about her jewelry, including the ring on her "ring finger," but Britney laughed it off, saying it was fake.

On the whole, the interview was refreshing to fans, who commented that Ellen was one of the few people who actually seemed to care about Britney and didn't even mention any of the "controversies" that were in the media at the time.

Fans also thought that Ellen was being quite kind, "genuinely nice and not fake," versus her later interviews with other celebrities. Britney was, looking back, fortunate to have had a positive interview experience, something that wasn't always true in her career.

Britney Spears May Return To Interviewing Post-Conservatorship

After so many talk show appearances and interviews early in her career, Britney largely stayed out of the spotlight during her conservatorship. Since it ended, she has continued to keep her private life under wraps, as far as giving tell-all interviews goes.

Yet there have been rumors that Britney Spears plans to sit down for a post-conservatorship interview with Piers Morgan. With all the buzz surrounding Britney's memoir, it's possible that an interview could be a bit of promotion for the book, or Britney could let her story speak for itself.

Of course, since Ellen DeGeneres' show is no more, it's unlikely that Spears will sit down for another interview with the former talk show host. That doesn't mean Britney Spears will avoid interviews altogether, but it's understandable if she's choosy about who she chats with, given journalists' poor overall track record with her.