Britney's TV tears

The reality of a year that saw her dumped by boyfriend Justin Timberlake, jeered by fans during her world tour and criticised for her stage kiss with Madonna finally caught up with Britney Spears.

She broke down in tears during an interview on American TV, admitting through sniffles: "It was pretty rough."

Asked how it felt to lose Timberlake, her love since the days when both were Disney "Mouseketeers", she began to cry, saying: "Yeah, it was kind of weird. Weird. Hello. Um, oh my goodness."

And overcome by her emotions, she begged ABC interviewer Diana Sawyer: "I'm embarrassed. Can we stop?'' The 21-year-old is hoping that her new album, In the Zone, will finally mark the difficult transition from being a teenage idol to a more mature singer.

But she has also had to endure Timberlake's comments on their sex life and his Cry Me A River video featuring a Spears lookalike, as well as learning that he is dating actress Cameron Diaz.

Spears says that at first she "really thought that I was gonna be with him for the rest of my life. I did." And she added that she was not interested in casual sex, saying: "You don't go around sleeping with people."

Timberlake gave an interview saying that Spears was no longer a virgin, also hinting that she had been unfaithful, contributing to their split. Spears, who says she is not currently dating, refused to be drawn further, saying: "I'm not technically saying he's wrong. But I'm not technically saying he's right either."

Earlier this year she upset fans in London by arriving late for her film premiere and refusing to sign autographs.

In July she walked out of a concert in Mexico, saying rain made it too dangerous to perform, while the crowd chanted "fraud".

Her parents have split up, with her mother now living in the £2 million house Spears bought for her in Louisiana. At the MTV music video awards in September, Spears planted an open-mouth kiss on Madonna during their performance of Like A Virgin - a move that led to accusations that she was corrupting younger children.

The singer, who sold 10 million copies of her first record Baby One More Time in 1999, shrugged off criticism about her scanty stage outfits, saying: "I feel comfortable in my skin. I think it's an okay thing to express yourself and be the way you want to be."

But she admits she may have over-stepped the mark recently with a magazine cover for Esquire magazine in which she wore nothing but a white jumper and pearls. "Those are a little too much," she said. "So that's one picture, I must say, that I felt kind of weird about. But, hey, it's done. And I learned from it."