Britney Spears Home Alone for ‘Dateline’ Interview

Perhaps that whole ‘Dateline’ TV interview with Matt Lauer didn’t go quite as Britney Spears had planned. Certainly she made some odd statements, and she has been criticized for everything from those quotes to her make-up to that outfit she was wearing.

Now a bit of digging by the NY Post sheds some light on why it seemed so raw. Reportedly Britney Spears was left ‘home alone’ to fend for herself - make up, wardrobe and all.

Unfortunately for Brit and her fans - she wasn’t able to pull it off.

Page Six details exactly what happened when Dateline showed up:

“Dateline” staffers were shocked when they showed up with Matt Lauer to interview Spears last week and found the pop star alone in her Malibu manse. “Neither of her publicists, Leslie Sloane Zelnick or Nanci Ryder, showed up,” said our source.

“Spears insisted on doing her own hair and makeup - a regrettable decision. Web sites derided her hair as a “rat’s nest” and, when she started crying during the interview, one of her fake eyelashes fell off. “When [the NBC crew] got there, they thought they had the wrong day…during the interview, no one was there to rein things in,” Page Six says it was told.

Spears wore flip-flops, a see-through tank and micro-mini jeans…Asked why Spears was on her own for the interview, Sloane Zelnick said, “Britney is a grown-up and makes her own decisions.”

This actually could have worked in Brit’s favor if she made better choices. She may have even been able to pull off a ‘folksy’ feel with her comments.

But too many were poor and her statement about being ‘country’ as the reason she was driving with Sean Preston on her lap has slammed by critics.

If this interview was the first step in the ‘re-build Britney Spears image’ campaign - it’s back to the drawing board.