Britney Spears' former backup dancer talks 'devastating' breakup with Justin Timberlake

FOX Nation's 'Who is Britney Spears?' examines the pop music icon's rise to fame

Since making her debut with The Mickey Mouse Club, Britney Spears has captured the hearts of pop culture enthusiasts and made headlines for her iconic moments. 

Behind the icon, however, is a woman who has publicly dealt with heartbreak, mental health, family turmoil and growing up in the spotlight. 

After once again making headlines for her newly released memoir "The Woman In Me," one of Spears' former backup dancers added new details about the pop star's breakup with former NSYNC heartthrob Justin Timberlake.

"I know that it was devastating for her," Spears' former backup dancer Tania Baron said on FOX Nation's "Who is Britney Spears?"

BRITNEY SPEARS' TOP CONFESSIONS: CHEATING, PREGNANCY, ‘SOUL-CRUSHING’ CHILDHOOD

Spears and Timberlake dated from 1999 to 2002, but kept the relationship a secret for a while. The two met while appearing on Disney Channel's "The All New Mickey Mouse Club" when they were children. 

Though they were both barely preteens at the time, Timberlake later told GQ, "I was in love with her from the start. I was infatuated with her from the moment I saw her."

Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake dated from 1999-2002. (Jeffrey Mayer)

Britney Spears and then-boyfriend Justin Timberlake (Kevin Winter)

Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake  (Kevin Mazur Archive 1/WireImage)

The pair were America's "it" couple, rocking matching outfits and capturing media attention. 

But with the attention during the relationship came the curiosity after the breakup.

"It's enough when you're young to break up. That's very traumatic, and they both were young and they both were clearly very much in love," entertainment journalist Jeanne Wolf added in the FOX Nation show. "But that curiosity about the breakup was much more impactful than the breakup itself."

The public still has an appetite for details on the pair's whirlwind romance.

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In "The Woman in Me," Spears made several claims about her relationship with Timberlake, including that she became pregnant. 

Spears said after Timberlake learned the news, he convinced her to have an abortion.

"It was a surprise, but for me, it wasn’t a tragedy," Spears wrote in an excerpt, according to People. "I loved Justin so much. I always expected us to have a family together one day. This would just be much earlier than I’d anticipated."

She continued, "But Justin definitely wasn’t happy about the pregnancy. He said we weren’t ready to have a baby in our lives, that we were way too young."

Spears wrote that, in the end, she decided to go along with Timberlake's alleged wishes.

"I’m sure people will hate me for this, but I agreed not to have the baby. I don’t know if that was the right decision. If it had been left up to me alone, I never would have done it. And yet Justin was so sure that he didn’t want to be a father."

The singer said, "To this day, it’s one of the most agonizing things I have ever experienced in my life."

Spears made other allegations in the book, opening up about drug use, cheating and the reason she shaved her head.

CLICK TO JOIN FOX NATION

While Spears is still making headlines, FOX Nation's special explores key moments in her life, from her child star days through the dissolution of her conservatorship.

For more insight into Spears' life and legacy, catch "Who is Britney Spears?" streaming now on FOX Nation.

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FOX News Digital's Emily Trainham contributed to this report. 

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