Britney Spears Nearly Quit X Factor On Her First Day

Simon Cowell says he ‘half lied’ when asked why Britney Spears took so many ‘bathroom breaks’ where she really went to get Frogurt and then went home for her afternoon nap. At the time, asked why the singer walked off on day one, Cowell admitted it’s in the singer’s contract that is permissive out of necessity because her mental health issues mean she needs mental health breaks throughout the day to get through filming without having another breakdown. That was kind of true, except he omitted the part about her very nearly not coming back. Cowell tells TMZ Live it’s his own fault for not having Frogurt waiting in her dressing room: ‘No one is going to admit that on the first day your highest paid star after 20 minutes has walked off set,’ Cowell said. ‘[Britney] had a moment on the first day where she said to me ‘I’m not sure I can do this.” Spears recently told Elle Magazine about her anxiety early on: ‘[I was] extremely nervous. I was having panic attack after panic attack.’

Included is a photo of Spears and (my other worry) Demi Lovato playing Tic Tac Toe in the break then pretending to do their work once L.A. Reid comes on set.