Child star Jamie Lynn Spears has shared the bleak reactions she received to her teen pregnancy, and revealed why she decided to flee Hollywood to raise her baby.
Now 35, the actress, who is the younger, estranged sister of Britney Spears, escaped Tinseltown to focus on creating a ‘stable’ life for daughter Maddie, who recently turned 18.
Spears became pregnant at 16 while filming the Nickelodeon show Zoey 101, and she now says she was ‘called the biggest letdown in the world’ for being a teen mom.
‘I was told my life was over. It was really, really tough not to believe those things,’ she told People this week.
She fled Los Angeles for ‘the middle of nowhere’ in Mississippi as she prepared to raise her child with then-boyfriend Casey Aldridge.
‘It really was just me and her,’ Spears, ultimately split from Aldridge, recalled. ‘I had to be like, “Look, this little girl needs you. You better figure it out.” I wanted to create a good, stable life for my daughter.’
Jamie Lynn Spears has revealed why she exited Hollywood when she was 16; pictured in 2022
Spears became pregnant while filming the Nickelodeon show Zoey 101, and she now says she was ‘called the biggest letdown in the world’ for being a teen mom
The entertainer said she wanted her daughter ‘to have a mom she could be proud of.’
She explained to the outlet, ‘I wanted to make sure [she knew] that it wasn’t her fault that she got a mom who was 16 and pregnant.
‘So, I wanted to make sure I did everything right. I think I was a bit of a helicopter parent.’
Maddie, who will begin college in August, recalled that her mother ‘was definitely strict but with good reason.’
‘She just wants me to be safe. We just had fun together because she did have me so young,’ added the recent high school graduate.
And she credited her mom with doing a ‘really good job of giving me a normal childhood,’ despite her family’s fame.
‘I never felt different,’ she stated.
The mom and daughter hilariously revealed that as a child Maddie thought ‘all pop stars were her aunt.’
‘She was like, “Aunt Gaga! Aunt RiRi!”‘ Spears said. ‘I was like, “No, no, no, no. That’s not how this works.” I don’t even think you ever met those people. You just assumed that they were all your aunts.’
The entertainer said she wanted her daughter ‘to have a mom she could be proud of’
Pictured with sister Britney Spears in 2003
Spears married Jamie Watson in 2014 and they share eight-year-old daughter Ivey
Spears married Jamie Watson in 2014, and the couple recently celebrated their 12th anniversary.
They share eight-year-old daughter Ivey.
She’s still acting, currently starring in season five of the Netflix series Sweet Magnolias.
Maddie will attend the University of Southern Mississippi in the fall, and Spears has mixed feelings about it.
‘I’m so proud of her and everything she’s done, but I also cry in the car because I’m not going to have my baby home every day,’ she said. ‘She’s always going to be my baby.’
