Jamie Lynn Spears Recalls Hiding Amid Teenage Pregnancy Backlash and Getting Emancipated From Parents

Jamie Lynn Spears is recalling a challenging time in her life. On the latest episode of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here, Jamie Lynn told French TV personality Fred Sirieix about life in the spotlight with her sister, Britney Spears.

Fred, who didn’t know much of the Spears family history, asked Jamie Lynn how both she and Britney became so famous.

“My mom literally believed that we were the best in the world,” Jamie Lynn said of Lynne Spears. “I think [when] we grew up, all we ever did was sing and dance. That was kind of our whole household. That’s how we were.”

That led Jamie Lynn to audition for Nickelodeon’s All That. After a years-long stint on that show, Jamie Lynn landed the leading role on Zoey 101. The hit series ended in dramatic fashion when Jamie Lynn got pregnant with her eldest child, Maddie, who’s now 15.

“I got pregnant and I decided to keep the baby,” Jamie Lynn said. “I had a baby and the whole world was like, ‘You’re a s**t. You’re horrible. Your life’s over.’ I got pregnant young. I was on a kids’ show. They had a lot going on, but I think [my parents] were just sad that I was in that situation. But also, it’s your baby having a baby.”

Amid Jamie Lynn’s pregnancy, she “had to go hide away for a long time” because the press was relentless. 

“I moved to Mississippi and literally hid. I put a gate around me. I had 20 paparazzi on me every day. They wouldn’t leave me alone. They came and lived in Mississippi in the middle of nowhere,” she said. “It was horrible. I hated it so much. I just wanted to be normal, because I wanted my baby to be normal.”

As all that was going on, Jamie Lynn said “everybody told me I was going to be a horrible mom, so I was like, ‘I gotta raise this baby by myself.’ And so I did.”

That decision was against the wishes of her parents, Lynne and Jamie Spears, and others around her, who “didn’t want me to have the baby.” Jamie Lynn held firm in her decision, though, and decided to emancipate herself from her parents.

“I was secretly telling [my mom] I was going to doctor’s appointments and stuff like that, and I was going and meeting with a lawyer,” Jamie Lynn recalled. “I told them I was going to get gas one day, but I went and met the lawyer. I showed up to the house with the lawyer. He followed me there and she was like, ‘Oh my god!’ My poor mom. We put her through it.”

Lynne, Jamie Lynn believes, didn’t want the teen to become emancipated “because she knew that I would probably marry the father of this child and lose my fortune that I had amassed over the years working since I was very young.”

Regardless, Jamie Lynn moved forward with her decision to become independent. 

“It was the first time in the world I had no one else. It was like I was in control,” she said. “… I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Why I wouldn’t take the easy route sometimes, but I just don’t want to.”

In a confessional, Jamie Lynn, who’s now married to Jamie Watson and mom to 5-year-old Ivey, reflected on her journey, telling the cameras, “I’m proud of where I’m at now. I don’t share in the way of being sad or crying about it. I’m really thankful.”

During Jamie Lynn and Fred’s conversation, the younger Spears sibling gave an update on her relationship with Britney, the older sister with whom she’s long had a complicated relationship.

“I think every family fights and has their stuff,” Jamie Lynn said. “I talked to her before I came here. We love each other.”

I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here is airing in the wake of Jamie Lynn’s elimination from Dancing With the Stars. After Jamie Lynn signed up for the competition series, a source told ET that Britney “wasn’t initially thrilled” about her younger sister’s decision.

“It’s bad timing, especially with Britney dealing with her split with Sam,” the source said of Britney’s split from her husband, Sam Asghari. “She feels continuously disappointed by her family, and it definitely stings.”

Watch the video below for more on Britney.

RELATED CONTENT: