Britney Spears Is Finally Opening Up About Her Intense Two-Week Romantic ‘Brawl’ With Colin Farrell

At this point, we all know what a rebound relationship is, but when it happens between two high-profile people, things start to get a little complex. Let’s travel back 20 years to the premiere of The Recruit, an Al Pacino film that also starred a young Colin Farrell, years before he befriended Jenny the Donkey.

At the time, Farrell made headlines for showing up to the premiere with pop star Britney Spears, who was still reeling from her publicized breakup with troll Justin Timberlake. While Farrell said they were “just mates” (so Irish!), Spears hadn’t spoken out about the relationship… until now.

Spears called their two-week fling a “brawl” in a new excerpt from her memoir, per TIME. She wrote, “Brawl is the only word for it—we were all over each other, grappling so passionately it was like we were in a street fight,” Spears and Timberlake had just broken up and the singer was still dealing with her post-breakup life. She continued, “As I had before when I’d felt too attached to a man, I tried to convince myself in every way that it was not a big deal, that we were just having fun, that in this case, I was vulnerable because I wasn’t over Justin yet.”

Though Farrell and Spears didn’t date for too long, there was a moment when the singer thought it could have been the real thing. She added, “For a brief moment in time, I did think there could be something there. The disappointments in my romantic life were just one part of how isolated I became. I felt so awkward all the time.” The duo seemed to have fizzled out after that. And now Farrell is off being a Batman villain lurking in the shadows. It’s funny how things work out.

Spears’ memoir The Woman In Me hits shelves on October 24th.

(Via Vanity Fair)