You don't even have to look at Britney Spears to know that she's beautiful. She radiates it inside and out, whether that's through her personality, dancing, or music.
Yet, the 'Baby One More Time' singer just revealed something so surprising on Instagram: she felt like an "ugly duckling" as a child.
Um, say what?
Just a few days ago, she celebrated the 20th anniversary of her record-breaking album "Oops!...I Did It Again."
The album came out on May 16, 2000.
That wasn't the only cause for celebration.
On Tuesday, Rolling Stone released their list of "100 Greatest Debut Singles of All Time" and guess who came out on top?
When it was released in 1999, no one could have known that it would go on to spend 32 weeks on the Hot 100, generate more than 285 million streams in the U.S., and became the fifth best-selling single by a female artist.
“In the great tradition of debut singles, it was a divisive statement that drew a line between past and future… with ‘…Baby One More Time’, this girl changed the sound of pop forever,” Rolling Stone wrote.
“It’s Britney, [expletive]. Nothing was ever the same.”
When sharing a gorgeous selfie of herself on Tuesday, she wrote an essay dedicated to her bangs and what they've always meant to her.
Her story is guaranteed to break your heart.
"Who would have thought bangs could make you look waaaaay younger ?!?!"
She had a form of the hairstyle in several of her music videos, including 'I'm a Slave 4 U,' 'Everytime,' and 'Toxic.'
She went on to share something so surprising, given how naturally gorgeous she is:
"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."
Um, has she seen a mirror?
"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 !!!!" she wrote with another laughing emoji.
"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."
She also had a lot of comments from those who couldn't believe that Britney would ever consider herself an ugly duckling.
"You know you are Britney Spears right?" one wrote.
A lot of fans made it clear that the Queen of Pop looks gorgeous with or without bangs covering her face.
"Ma’am...you had bangs during the Baby One More Time era & it looked gorgeous. Don’t wanna hear it. You’re still gorgeous & look young with or without," this fan wrote.
People are also saying that the modeling agency that rejected her is kicking themselves now, because, duh, IT'S BRITNEY SPEARS and she's gorgeous.
If she thinks she's ugly, what hope is there for the rest of us?
Maybe enough to start making some new music?? Okay, that's wishful thinking, but tell us: what do you think of Britney's bangs?
Do you have some kind of ritual that makes you feel more protected? Let us know in the comments!
