Britney's turn to talk

TORONTO -- Making the transition from sweet, innocent girl to va-va-va-voom sexy woman isn't easy at the best of times.

So imagine being pop music teen queen Britney Spears.

The 18-year-old performer, in town yesterday for a short, frenzy-inducing stopover to promote her hugely successful sophomore album, Oops! ... I Did It Again, said making that difficult transition -- with the whole world watching -- has been really trying at times.

"It was just hard growing up in front of people and having people talking about you because you're a teenager and you have all those things you go through," said Spears, during a rare one-on-one chat last night at her Toronto hotel.

'So overwhelming'

"It was cool at first because it was so overwhelming, and it was like, 'Oh, my God! I'm famous!' It was so new and surreal. And then you got to the point where there's the realization of, 'Oh, my God! I'm famous and I can't go back.' "

For example, take that story in a British newspaper a few weeks back that an American businessman wanted to pay her $17 million to have sex with him.

Spears, who has stated previously she wants to remain a virgin until her wedding night, was quoted as saying it was "a disgusting offer and he should go have a cold shower." But the singer said she just found out about it yesterday.

"Somebody just asked me before I came in here, 'Is it true that this guy offered you some $17 million to have sex with him?' and I was like, 'What are you talking about?' " said Spears, her voice rising in horror. "And they had me saying a quote, and I didn't even know about it. Maybe this guy did do this, but no one told me about it."

Spears, who drew hundreds of hysterical fans to two public appearances in T.O. yesterday -- one in the afternoon for a block party at radio station KISS 92, and the other at MuchMusic last night -- said she's gotten used to erroneous stories, rumours and inappropriate questions. Like the one levelled at her during a press conference in Montreal last month asking about her lesbian following and whether or not she was bisexual.

"I was like, 'What are you talking about?' " said Spears, who still doesn't understand the focus on her sexuality. "I don't know -- maybe they just want to have something to talk about. Like in my videos, I'll show my belly, but there's girls in thongs in The Thong Song. I don't understand. I'm 18, I'm a girl, it's nice to feel sexy. You're lying if you say you don't. It's part of me. It's part of me being a girl and growing up. I feel comfortable doing it. It's not like I walk around in hot pants."

Prince William

Otherwise, Spears said her favourite rumour to date has been the one linking her with Prince William, who turned 18 on Wednesday.

"I love that rumour," said the soft-spoken and polite Spears, dressed in a funky pair of beige snakeskin boots, green-trimmed hip-hugger jeans with a green jewelled belt and a rose-adorned white baby T-shirt. "It was like, 'Thank God, there's a good rumour out there about me. I was like, 'You can let that one go on.' That one was kind of funny. I laughed at that. Well, we did exchange e-mails, but it (the rumour) was like I was dating him or whatever."

Spears said she also initially had a chuckle over the story about her getting breast implants, until people started believing it.

"The whole boob thing. At first, yeah, I thought it was a joke. But then when people started coming up to me, like really asking me about it, I'd just look at them, they would look at me, at my chest, and I was like, 'Ew.' It was so gross, man. People are so cruel."

Still, Spears, who returns to Toronto on Aug. 22 to play the Molson Amphitheatre, has plenty to smile about these days.

Oops!, which sold a staggering 1.4 million copies in its first week of release in North America, has now sold 8.2 million copies worldwide, including 300,000 copies in Canada.

Spears -- who was wearing a diamond cross around her neck yesterday -- was also recently asked to take part in an album of the Pope's prayers. World Voice 2000 is due for release in September.

"That's nice," said Spears, looking at the story in USAToday. "That's very cool. Actually, I remember someone telling me about this, and I totally forgot."

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