Britney Spears felt like an "ugly duckling" when she was younger

In a lengthy Instagram post, she wrote: "Who would have thought bangs could make you look waaaaay younger ?!?! I stopped having bangs in the 3rd grade and I remember like it was yesterday ....

"it was such a big deal to expose my forehead .... only pretty people in the south could do that and I never felt pretty enough to pull it off.

"All the beauty pageant girls did it but I never felt beauty pageants were my thing ... I had bad teeth and felt like an ugly duckling. (sic)"

Britney, now 38, opened up on when she tried to "be like the older girls" with her hairdo as she tried to look "cool".

She explained how embracing her "bangs" still helps her feel "protected".

She continued: "I met with a modeling agency but I wasn't pretty enough so I went home and said, "maybe I can be like the older girls and show my forehead" !!!!

"I did and it looked sooooo bad but I thought I was gorgeous !!!! I think I knew it didn't look good but I did it because I thought it made me cool .... and I've pretty much had it like that ever since !!!!

"People choose different ways to protect themselves .... when I pull my bangs in front of my head I feel like I'm protected ... almost like I'm in 3rd grade again (sic)

Meanwhile, Britney recently revealed she accidentally burnt down her private gym.

The ''Oops... I Did It Again' singer explained via Instagram that she'd only just returned to her home workout station, after she accidentally burnt most of her gym equipment.

She told fans in a video update: "Hey, guys! I'm in my gym right now. I haven't been in here for, like, six months, because I burned my gym down unfortunately.

"I had two candles, and yeah, one thing led to another, and I burned it down..."

Fortunately no-one was hurt in the fire.