Britney does a Kylie

She made her name as a wholesome Southern girl - not averse to cavorting in short gym skirts but true to her first love and determined to save herself for marriage.

But as any record company executive will tell you, it is impossible to sustain the interest of fans and the media without regular changes of image.

And from the look of this exclusive picture, with her popularity fading it seems that Britney Spears is following the lead of pop's reigning reinvention queen - Kylie Minogue.

Minogue was first soap star, then bubblegum popstar and is now, at 35, a smouldering diva.

When, in her early twenties, her own pop career waned, Kylie rebelled. She dumped the "girl next door" image she had developed in Neighbours and her musical career with Stock, Aitken & Waterman.

She embarked on an affair in 1990 with INXS star Michael Hutchence and adopted a raunchier, more grown-up image which reached new extremes recently with a daring photo shoot for Pop magazine.

Now Britney appears to have taken a leaf out of her book. Gone is the freshfaced teen queen. In her place is a sultry seductress with kohl-rimmed eyes, revealing clothes and the kind of provocative pose that would once have been unthinkable for her.

And far from boasting of her desire to be a virgin on her wedding night, now she is more than willing to confirm the intimate details of her relationship with Justin Timberlake. Welcome to the new, sexually charged world of Britney.

The photographs, taken from the August issue of W magazine, feature Britney in a long blonde wig. In one it is tousled as she blatantly stares at the
camera with her mouth slightly open. Another picture features her lying backwards on a set of metal bars with her eyes half-closed and her hands on her bottom. Wearing a skimpy black bodice, black knickers and a choker, she is more bondage queen than all-American girl.

The shots accompany an interview in which the 21-year-old star talks openly about sleeping with Timberlake, 22. "I've only slept with one person my whole life," she says. "It was two years into my relationship with Justin, and I thought he was the one. But I was wrong!"

Insiders claim that Britney has used her relationship with Justin to reinvent herself, and he is furious about it. One source said: "Justin's fuming with Britney for talking about their affair so graphically.

"Britney was always the more famous of the two when they were going out together, but as soon as they split she put her career on hold and took a long break. Never did Justin try to cash in on her success. He's kept a dignified silence. Now Britney's desperate to reinvent herself and she's using her time with Justin to do so."

Asked about reports linking her to Irish actor Colin Farrell, Britney says: "Yes I kissed him. Of course I did! He's the cutest, hottest thing in the world - wooh!" The kiss left her with a "craving" for more. "I haven't had a boy in a long time," she says. "Just a kiss, man. A kiss would be nice."

W magazine's August edition is out on 29 July.