Terrified Britney Spears thought snake was going to kill her during performance

Britney Spears has delivered on the promise she made to fans over a month ago, as she teased her book on Instagram revealing she’d be lifting the lid on her most famous performance; the 2001

VMAs.

With a python draped around her shoulders, the then 19-year-old seemed the picture of cool confidence but now revealed in her new memoir that she was beyond terrified and tried to focus on

not being killed.

The Toxic singer kept her eyes forward or on the floor because “I felt if I looked up and caught its eye, it would kill me”, according to an excerpt of her new memoir obtained by People.

She recalled: “In my head I was saying, Just perform, just use your legs and perform.”

The 41-year-old also revealed something “nobody knows” about the moment, as during the song the snake had brought its head “right up to me” and started hissing.

READ MORE: Britney Spears finally explains decision to shave her head in 2007

She recalled the moment of sheer panic: “I was thinking, Are you f***ing serious right now?

“The f***ing goddamn snake’s tongue is flicking out at me. Right. Now.

“Finally, I got to the part where I handed it back, thank God.”

The Hollywood star was at the peak of her fame at the time, with two chart-topping albums under her belt and cemented her role in music history at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards.

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Performing her smash hit I’m a Slave 4 U from her third album, Britney, the pop star already started off in a daring position, scantily clad and dancing in an iron cage with a live tiger.

However, the show took an unexpected turn when she later stepped to the back of the stage and, with the help of a wrangler, held an albino python and performed the rest of the song with it

resting on her shoulders.

Despite fears from the audience, and Britney herself as she now revealed, the act went off without a hitch and marked the start of her penchant for iconic moments at the VMAs.

In 2003, Britney took to the stage alongside pop heavyweights Madonna and Christina Aguilera and sparked a major controversy as she and the Like A Virgin singer locked lips.

The dramatic moment was emphasised for audiences at home as the cameras quickly switched to a view of Justin Timberlake who had split with the Toxic singer just a few months earlier.

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