Fashions News

Lynne Spears, the mother of Spears sisters Britney and Jamie Lynn, opened up to The Today Show earlier this morning to talk about her new book, “Through the Storm: A Real Story of Fame and Family in a Tabloid World.” She talked about how Britney is doing now and what it was like to find out Jamie Lynn was pregnant.

On why she wrote the book: “I have sat for hours thinking and thinking about everything that’s happened. It’s been a whirlwind. It’s been a wild ride for everybody. I think there was the tabloid version of our lives. I wanted people to see our family as we really are.”

On getting sucked into fame and fortune: “There’s the honeymoon phase at first. Everything is fabulous. Look at the wonderful trips she gets to go on. Look at the wonderful people she’s meeting. Then there’s the ugly side of things that turns, and we weren’t ready for that, either.”

On being a stage mom: “Britney pushed me, because I was a teacher… In Louisiana I had a preschool for 15 years and then I went into the public school. Of course I tried to be with Britney as much as I could, but when she was 15, 16 years old that’s when Felicia, a very good family friend, she traveled with Britney. I had to stay home, because Jamie Lynn was in school. I had another daughter. Another misconception was that I was always with Britney when I really wasn’t.”

On the 1999 Rolling Stone cover where Britney posed in her bra: “We were in shock at what was going on, and we were in awe. We didn’t have any choice in the pictures. We had no one that could tell us what we were supposed to be doing.”

On her darkest time when Britney was committed to a hospital for psychiatric problems and Jamie Lynn was 16 and pregnant: “It was so crazy at that time. I don’t think anybody was trying to sit and think what was going on. We were praying very hard, because it seemed like we were having no control over anything that was happening. We were trying.”