Jamie Lynn Spears was told she would ‘never work again’ after she became pregnant at the age of 16.
When Spears finished filming the final season of her Nickelodeon sitcom Zoey 101 in August 2007 - ahead of a planned 2008 final air date - attention turned to the then teen star’s next project.
"I think when I wrapped Zoey there were all these plans of things like, 'Let’s go do movies,'" she said during a recent interview with Variety. "I was reading scripts for things I was excited about."
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However, Spears, who is the younger sister of pop superstar Britney Spears, discovered she was pregnant with her then-boyfriend, Casey Aldridge. The news was announced in an interview with OK! Magazine on December 18, 2007 just as Spears passed the 12-week mark.
Her pregnancy announcement became a controversial topic at the time because of her age, with some parents believing she was a bad influence for her young fans. Despite calls to shelve the fourth season, Nickelodeon aired it as planned.
On her pregnancy as a teenager, the Sweet Magnolias star said: "But like a lot of young girls, I thought I was in love. And there I am, pregnant at 16. I was so concerned about bringing another human being into this world, but I needed to figure out who I was."
Spears said the press wasn’t very ‘nice’ to her while reporting on her pregnancy, so she decided to separate herself from the public eye and Hollywood.
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She reflected: “So I got a house in Mississippi. I put up a gate, put myself on a budget and said, 'I’m gonna raise my baby back here.' And that’s what I did for a while."
The mum-of-two gave birth to her first child, daughter Maddie Briann Aldridge, now 15, on June 19, 2008 in Mississippi. Spears split from Aldridge, to whom she was engaged, in March 2009. They reconciled and later split a second time in 2010.
Spears married businessman Jamie Watson in March 2014 and gave birth to their child and her second daughter, Ivy Joan Watson, on April 11, 2018.
Upon reflection, Spears said having her first child isn’t something she regrets, nor did becoming a mom hold her back.
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“But I also wanted to show her that I could provide for her future and that I could continue on to be what I wanted to be,” she said. “Bringing her into my life was not something that I regret or held me back."
One of the scripts mentioned above was the film adaption of a vampire-werewolf-human love triangle you might have heard...
“I did read for Twilight," she revealed. "This was before vampires had really made their mark. Now we all love to watch stories about vampires, but I literally was like, 'Vampires? Are you kidding me?'
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“I remember reading it and going, 'Who is going to watch these vampires?' Boy, was I wrong!"
Although she missed out on (possibly) becoming Bella Swan, Spears went on to star in the hit Netflix drama Sweet Magnolias, which just released its third season this month.
Plus, Zoey Brooks’ story didn’t end in 2008, the former Pacific Coast Academy student will be back on our screens in Zoey 102, a feature length sequel to the nickelodeon series which features many of the show’s main cast, including Spears.
Zoey 102 will be released on Paramount+ on July 27, 2023.
Topics: Film and TV, Celebrity, Entertainment