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.

LIFE STYLE EXTRA (UK) Claims that Britney Spears is planning to have her next baby in Namibia are a hoax.

The rumours - which spread across the internet like wildfire on Friday (16.06.06) - suggested the ‘Toxic’ singer was planning to copy Angelina Jolie and give birth in the southern African country.

It all started after someone claiming to represent Britney called Namibia’s Deputy Environment and Tourism Minister, Leon Jooste.

He explained: “She has shown interest to come over to Namibia.

“Nothing has been confirmed yet, but there is a definite possibility of that happening.”

Jooste added: “She wants to come in very low profile and have some privacy. She might change her mind if we reveal too much now.” However, a spokesperson for the mum-of-one said: “There is no truth in this.”

Britney, 24, already has one child, 9-month-old Sean Preston, with 28-year-old husband Kevin Federline. The couple are expecting their second baby in September.

Last week, the singer revealed that her marriage is “awesome” - but admitted she is an “emotional wreck”.

She opened her heart about her allegedly failing marriage in an interview on US TV.

The star admitted she finds the constant rumours about the demise of her marriage “sad” because she “thinks everyone should be pro-love”.

Britney Spears has swapped her sexy catsuits and microphones for aprons and a mop and bucket as she attempts to become housewife of the year. The pregnant pop superstar insists she’s serious about making her marriage to Kevin Federline and her family work, despite rumors to the contrary, and she has become quite the housekeeper to prove she means business.

She says, “I like to cook … I try to cook and I like to clean … and if I watch TV I do watch the home (shows, where they’re) redoing the house. I have a maid that comes once a week but she slacks a little bit … This house is so big I have to have some help.”

And the former pop princess insists the things she does really well is serve up great refreshments: “I make good tea, OK?”

Britney Spears has been subjected to a backlash after her tearful interview last week on news show “Dateline.” Spears, who is heavily pregnant, was criticized for her “inappropriate” wardrobe choice of a sheer, cleavage baring top and revealing mini-skirt.

The singer also reportedly insisted on doing her own hair and make-up and chewed gum throughout the interview. At one point, when she began to cry, her make-up started clumping and one of her fake eyelashes fell off.

The source adds, “When (the NBC crew) got there, they thought they had the wrong day … during the interview, no one was there to reign things in.”

A source tells Pagesix.com, “Neither of her publicists, Leslie Sloane Zelnick or Nanci Ryder, showed up.” When asked why Spears was on her own for the interview, Sloane Zelnick told Pagesix.com, “Britney is a grown-up and makes her own decisions.”

// Britney And Kevin On Their Hotel Balcony In Miami

Credit: x-britney.com

Britney Spears burst into tears while pleading for privacy from the media during an interview for NBC’s “Dateline.”

Spears told Matt Lauer she wants the paparazzi to leave her and her family alone, and denied that her marriage to Kevin Federline was on the rocks. She said Federline was helping her through the hormonal mood swings of her second pregnancy.

In a choked-up voice, Spears said the media and paparazzi “have to realize that we’re people” and she and husband need their “privacy” and “respect.”

“Those are things that you have to have as a human being,” Spears said.

She insisted that she’s a good mom to her baby boy, Sean Preston, and Federline is a good husband.

Portions of the interview aired Thursday morning on the “Today” show. It will be broadcast in its entirety Thursday night on “Dateline.”

Spears drew criticism earlier this year when she was photographed with her infant son sitting on her lap as she drove.

The singer said she feels like a target.

Federline and Spears married in the fall of 2004, and their son, Sean Preston, was born last September. She revealed last month that she is pregnant again.

Federline also has two children, Kori and Kaleb, with his former girlfriend, Shar Jackson.

Paris Hilton insists pop star Britney Spears should try and cooperate with the paparazzi and not antagonize them.

The hotel heiress, who appeared on the talk show “The View,” claims she sympathizes with Spears’ battle with the media, but that the best way to handle the pesky photographers is to smile and work with them.

She explains, “(The paparazzi) annoy me, too.

“I can understand going to a press event or a premiere that’s fine, they’re there, but when they’re waiting outside your home every morning and following you around every single day it’s hard.

“I’d rather them just take pictures at events, not at my house.

“I think it’s better just to smile than when people give the middle finger or are rude to them, because that’s what they want you to do.

“They want to get a bad picture.”

Britney Spears stunned shoppers and staff at a Victoria’s Secret lingerie shop last week when she changed her son’s diaper on the store’s dirty floor. The singer was shopping at the shop in Mission Viejo, California, on June 4 where she purchased some pink g-stings with eight-month-old son Sean Preston in tow.

The tot needed to have his nappy changed and the 24-year-old plopped him down on the floor next to the cash register. A shocked sales associate recalls, “We don’t have the cleanest floors. She just put him down and changed his diaper and then handed it to a sales clerk saying, ‘Can you throw this away for us?’ We told her that we couldn’t put that in our trash.”

Spears’ parenting skills have been questioned several times this year - in February she received a visit from the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) after she was photographed driving with her son seated on her lap.

In April, Sean Preston was briefly admitted to hospital after he fell from a faulty high-chair while in the care of his former nanny, and last month Spears defended herself again after the baby was spotted slumped in the back of her car.