25 SEPTEMBER 2001
Teen pop superstar Britney Spears showed off her trim figure in an eye-catching polka-dot bikini on Sydney’s Bondi Beach last week.

The terrorist attacks on New York and Washington left the 19-year-old singer stranded in Australia, where she is promoting her new single, I’m A Slave 4U.

In tribute to the thousands of victims in her native US, Britney cancelled all media engagements in Australia and called off her upcoming tours. “After much thought and deliberation it is with great regret that I have decided to cancel my planned European and Latin American trips,” she said. “I trust you will understand my decision to return home and spend time with my family and loved ones.”

Unable to fly back home, and with a rare break in her hectic schedule, the pop princess tried to cheer up her entourage with a trip to the beach. While enjoying the sun, sand and surf she sported a New York baseball cap. “It’s been a pretty miserable week, you don’t have to ask why,” she explained to press lined up to take her photo on Bondi. “So I thought I’d push the bad times away for a while and enjoy the sun and the beach.”