11 JANUARY 2002
Pop princess Britney Spears isn’t set to cross the Atlantic until late January, but she’s already made plans for a tete-a-tete with outrageous British comic Frank Skinner.

“I can’t wait to come to the UK to meet Frank,” admits the I’m A Slave 4 U singer. “I hear he’s a bit of a superstar and can be a bit cheeky”.

The West Midlands comedian is equally aroused by the idea of a chat with the 20-year-old beauty. “I’m really chuffed to be interviewing Britney,” he said. “She is the hottest pop star in the world at the moment, and in more ways than one.”

“The big question is will she put her career on the line and do a song with me at the end of the show?”

The proposed duet wouldn’t be Frank’s first foray into the music biz. The ITV personality topped the charts first in 1996 and then again in 1998 with the England football song, Three Lions, which he co-wrote with comedian David Baddiel and pop band the Lightning Seeds.

Britney’s camp is billing the event – a special episode of Frank’s long-running ITV1 programme – as her first chat show appearance in the UK. The interview is scheduled to air sometime in late January.