News, Articles & Reviews

Los Angeles (ANTARA News/Reuters) - Pop star Britney Spears, hospitalized twice in January for psychiatric evaluation but now back at work on a CBS television comedy, says she is "having a blast."

This week the singer who saw her life spin out of control in 2007 and early 2008 has been portraying a dermatology office secretary named Abby on "How I Met Your Mother."

"Working at 'How I Met Your Mother' has been so terrific.

Everyone, including the cast, the crew and the producers, has been wonderful and Abby is such a fun girl to play. I'm having a blast!" Spears said in a statement released by CBS.

Spears, 26, rose to fame as a child star on the Disney channel and scored numerous hit songs as a teenager including "Oops ... I Did It Again."

In 2002, she was named the world's top celebrity by Forbes magazine after earning $39.2 million in one year.

But in late 2006, Spears split from her ex-husband Kevin Federline. Since then she has been in rehab, lost custody of her two sons to Federline, and was hospitalized twice in January and placed under mental observation.

Last month a Los Angeles family court gave temporary control of her personal and business affairs to her father, Jamie Spears, and a co-conservator, attorney Andrew Wallet.

Their conservatorship now extends to July 31.

Recently Spears appears to be on the mend. This week, she also released a new video -- featuring an animated version of herself -- to accompany her latest single, "Break the Ice."

News of her role on "How I Met Your Mother" reached the media on Monday, and all week she has been attending rehearsals and shooting scenes. The episode in which she will appear is expected to air on the U.S. network on March 24.

One of the program's stars, Neil Patrick Harris, told celebrity Web site E! Online (http://www.eonline.com) that she approached the show about the role and that security on the set was so tight even he had a tough time getting to work one day.

"Britney's shown up three days out of three, so she's batting 1,000," Harris told E! Online. (*)

Source