BRITNEY & JUSTIN: WHY THEY SPLIT

After three years of hot and highly public "perfect" romance, the two pop stars are parting ways – and partying with others. US reveals the details.

From the start, Britney Spears and boy-band heartthrob Justin Timberlake looked and acted like pop's sexy – but oh-so-squeaky-clean – prom queen and king. So imagine the reaction at the Hollywood club AD recently when, there on the dance floor, the *NSYNC superstar openly dirty danced with a pretty – no, make that gorgeous – young brown-haired, blue-eyed woman. "There's an upper level in the club and a lot of people were standing up there looking down at Justin in disbelief," says a woman who witnessed the apparent transgression. "He was on the dance floor, freaking this girl, and they were dancing very close. If I was Britney and I saw what he was doing, I would have been extremely upset."

Not that the 20 year old singer was exactly waiting by the phone. A few days later, Spears – fresh from the European premiere of her feature film CROSSROADS – was spied dancing atop a banquette at Bungalow 8, a private club in New York. There, she caught the eye of one model Marcus Schenkenberg, 33, (a Pamela Anderson ex). According to sources, Spears, Schenkenberg and an entourage that included Britney's brother, Bryan Spears, 24, headed to another club, Lot 61, where they danced up a storm into the wee hours.

Weeks after rumors first surfaced that Spears and Timberlake had split – and nearly a month since they were last seen together, at the Grammys – the couple seemed to be going head-to-head in the gossip columns and bring their did-they-or-didn't-they guessing game to full boil. Then, just two days after Spears's banquette antics, a course close to the couple confirmed exclusively to US the bad news: The pair's three-year love duet had hit a final, flat note. "They're taking a break," says the source. "They tend to do that break up-to-make-up thing, but not this time. They done." In fact, a spokeswoman for the two – after initially denying reports of a split – now puts the state of their union at this: "No comment." To some, word of this demise, apparently initiated by Timberlake, came as a surprise. "I last saw Britney and Justin together at Christmas," says her first boyfriend, Reg Jones. "It was at the funeral of her grandmother, so it wasn't the best of circumstances. But I remember watching them laughing and having fun. They were acting like two people totally in love."

Those close to the couple, however, say that what seemed like a match too good to be true may have been just that. Indeed the young lovers in recent months appeared to be going through growing pains that fame and fortune not only left them unprepared for but also exacerbated. Sources say that twosome had begun to bicker constantly in the months preceding their parting of ways. "They fight a lot; they are very passionate people," says one friend. Revealing, last year, Timberlake told Cosmopolitan, "I don't get how you can supposedly be forgiven for a wrongdoing, but three months later, you will hear about it... Something that women should know is that hell, no, we cannot read your minds." Earlier this month, he seemed to echo the same sentiment when a young fan in Anaheim, California, asked him about the breakup rumor. His reply? "Girls are trouble. Stay away from them." Seems Timberlake, however, hasn't been following his own advice in recent weeks. While Spears was in Europe promoting CROSSROADS, he was twice seen getting cozy with the above-mentioned brunette – who is thought to be at least one reason behind the split. The pair was photographed KISSING goodbye after lunch at a Mexican restaurant in Los Angeles and later at AD. Spears, says one pal, is devastated: "She would do whatever she can to make that relationship work. She loves Justin so much. There's really nothing she wouldn't do for him."

Yet other, deeper misunderstanding lie beneath the surface. Throughout this affair, despite vacations in Hawaii, Pebble Beach, Florida, and Lake Placid, New York (chaperoned by Spears's bodyguard, Rob), and a love nest the two shared in the Hollywood Hills (they would light candles and listen to Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye), the pressure of their schedules wreaked havoc. And jealously, both professional and personal, may have played a role. Four years ago, Spears was *NSYNC's opening act. Now the self-confessed "control freak" – with 746,000 albums sold in one week, a multi-million-dollar contract with Pepsi and every camera lens on her – far outshines Timberlake, who himself has acting ambitions and plans to embark on a solo career later this year. Of course, there was temptation, too: Young ladies have bared their breasts for Timberlake to autograph; Spears has publicly acknowledged a weakness for Brad Pitt, has been linked with Ben Affleck and has at least e-mailed Prince William.” First love is mind bending to begin with, and then add light and the sequins,” says Lynn Harris, the author of Breakup Girl to the Rescue!" "They seem to have stayed together in spite of seven times the pressure that normal kids have."

In fact, from the beginning, it appeared as if the two had the bearings to go the distance. They first met as performers on the Disney Channel's new Mickey Mouse Club. They were both 12, and during a game of truth of dare, they became each other's first kiss. "Nobody's ever, even been able to kiss me like [Justin],"Spears has said. Remaining friends, they began dating after his eighteenth birthday party – and soon had people playing the first game of did-they-or-didn't-they, this time about whether the young couple has had sex. While it has been suggested that the Southern Baptist Spears wouldn't sleep with the Memphis, Tennessee-bred Timberlake, she has more recently refused to answer questions about her virginity.

This winter, sources say, was when the big chill set in. At the American Music Awards in January, Spears performed her single "I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman," and Timberlake gave her a standing ovation. But by the Grammys, he showed up not as her other half but as one-fifth of *NSYNC. Less than a week later, he reportedly called Spears from the road to end their relationship. During interviews in Germany and Italy, Spears denied the breakup, but after seeing the paparazzi shots of Timberlake and the other woman, she canceled appearances in Paris and London. She also bailed out on a trip to Kay Biscayne, Florida, where she has recently purchased an oceanfront house to be closer to Timberlake's home in Orlando. In what may have been a symbolic gesture, she also supposedly moved his friendship ring (estimated to have cost $250,000) to her middle finger.

Friends and family, though are still hoping for happily ever after. When asked about the breakup rumors, Timberlake's grandmother Bobbye Timberlake said: "The way they manage their schedules so they always make time to see each other is incredible. They are extremely mature and perfectly suited [to] one another." This is a sentiment echoed by *NSYNC's Lance Bass. Once, when asked about his friends, he said that Justin and Brintey have the "coolest relationship ever They are so perfect for each other, it's scary."

CONTINUE
feedback? want to be notified when its updated? [email protected]