26 MARCH 2002
American pop princess Britney Spears turned heads in a backless, halter-neck silver sequinned dress at the London premiere of her new film Crossroads at the Odeon Theatre in Leicester Square on Monday.

Up to 3,000 cheering and screaming fans, mostly young girls – some of whom had come from as far away as South Africa – gathered for a glimpse of the 20-year-old singer. But things took a downhill turn for the singer when her entourage ushered her inside after only a few moments on the red carpet.

Fans, some of whom had waited most of the day, began to boo and hiss as she and co-star Anson Mount walked into the theatre, without signing autographs. Britney’s representatives later explained that since the entourage had arrived an hour late there was no time to do the walkabout.

The I’m A Girl, Not Yet A Woman singer had earlier responded to speculation over the state of her relationship with ‘Nsync singer Justin Timberlake. In a packed press conference she admitted: “I would not say I was in an intense relationship with anyone at the moment.” And she told Channel 4 in an interview to be screened on Wednesday: “I’m single … right now.”

Britney and the boy band singer have been pop music’s power couple for the past two years. They met in the mid-90s when they were cast members on the Disney Channel’s Mickey Mouse Club.

In Crossroads, which opened in the US last month, Britney plays a girl who is reunited with her childhood friends and then sets off on a road trip of self-discovery. It is released in the UK on Friday.