As reported by USA Today, Britney Spears did tell a British television host she’s single – but then again, she also told him, “I do.” The pop star had a bit of fun with the rumors that have swirled about her relationship with Justin Timberlake during her time on “The Big Breakfast,” declaring herself single, accepting a marriage proposal from host Richard Bacon and even staging a mock quickie wedding – all within five minutes of screen time.
USA Today ran Spears’ declaration of singlehood as confirmation that her relationship with Timberlake was over, but the quote came as part of the setup for the planned phony marriage skit, which was taped earlier but aired Wednesday morning (March 27).
“Now I know that you don’t want to talk about your relationship, that’s fair enough. I’m not going to ask because we know what’s going on in the press, but can I ask, are you single at the moment or not?” Bacon asked Spears at the onset of the interview. “If you don’t want to talk about anything at all, you can just say, ‘I don’t wanna say.’ ”
“I’m single, right now,” Spears responded with a mischievous gleam in her eye.
The two bantered for a while about a Sunday People article in which Spears said she thought Bacon was cute and would like to meet him. “With that in mind,” Bacon asked, getting down on one knee, “Britney Spears, light of my life, will you make me the happiest man in the world by becoming my wife?” Bacon then produced an engagement ring.
“This is a TV show, yes I will,” she said, as he slipped the ring on her finger. “I can’t wait to call my mom and tell her.”
Getting one of the world’s biggest pop stars to agree to marry him wasn’t enough for Bacon, though – he wanted to seal the deal then and there. “I was thinking of making it quite a short engagement,” he said, pointing out a Methodist minister who had been sitting across from them the whole time but only then became visible to the camera. Spears feigned surprise as the vicar showed them two already-prepared marriage certificate applications.
“Whoa, this is like for real. Oh my gosh,” Spears exclaimed. “Where am I supposed to sign? This is pretend, right?”
Bacon said nothing, and she signed regardless. “You are now Britney Bacon,” he said, then he kissed her on the cheek as a bouquet of flowers was tossed to her by someone off-camera.
“I’m married, mom!” she exclaimed to the camera. “Let’s go on our honeymoon. Let’s leave now and go to Vegas, baby!”
Bacon had another locale in mind for the honeymoon, a “lodge ’round the corner,” which the optimistic host said he had already booked. “Obviously, we’re now together for life,” he reminded her.
“Um, yeah, OK,” she said, laughing.
As soon as the cameras stopped rolling, her handlers took back the marriage certificate application, underscoring that the transaction was just a joke. As for Mr. Spears, one step he skipped was signing a prenuptial agreement – smart thinking since he’s about to be out of a job. “The Big Breakfast,” after a 10-year run, airs its last episode on Friday.