As Britney Spears strives to regain custody of her young sons, a former assistant has spoken out about life with the star. In the revealing interview published in an American magazine Kalie Machado, who spent three months working for Britney in 2006, says the troubled singer "cares deeply about her children".
Kalie - who met the singer just weeks after the she filed for divorce - attributes the 25-year-old mum-of-two's turbulent lifestyle to an inability to come to terms with the breakdown of her marriage to Kevin Federline.
"She was incredibly sad and lonely when I was with her," says Kalie. "There she was with two babies and no husband. She had help but she didn't want it. She wanted the father of her children to help her."
The former employee goes on to say that while she thinks the the pop princess would benefit from guidance in managing her lifestyle, she loves her children. "While (Kevin) was going here, there and everywhere, she stayed with those babies herself."
The positive remarks may provide a welcome boost for Britney, who has been ordered by an LA court to pay Kevin's legal fees - as well as her own -in the custody battle for Sean Preston, two, and one-year-old Jayden James. The LA Superior Court Commissioner explained this was because the majority of litigation relates to Britney's behaviour and the "disparity between the parties' income".