It was a match made in celebrity heaven. He was the boyband heart-throb, she the hottest pop starlet of the ’90s – a real-life Ken and Barbie with rapidly soaring careers and a golden future stretching out in front of them.
Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears’ story was all the sweeter because they’d known each other for years: both were child performers on The Mickey Mouse Club variety TV show alongside fellow stars-in-the-making Ryan Gosling and Christina Aguilera.
She was just 17 and he 18 when they started dating – then came the 2002 split and things took a dark turn for Britney.And while she spiralled faster and faster, her former flame’s star soared thanks to their very public break-up.
