Recently unearthed Britney Spears interview from 2016 discussing her conservatorship leaves fans shocked

A never-before-seen clip of Britney Spears discussing her controversial conservatorship during a television interview has been released online this week.

Now, with the unearthed video having gone viral, many of the singer's fans are baffled as to how producers could have possibly edited the bombshell 2016 conversation out at such a vulnerable time in her life.

The singer was finally freed in 2021 (Steve Granitz/WireImage)

Following the #FreeBritney campaign of 2019, two years later, the noughties pop star was finally let go of the involuntary guardianship she'd been placed under by her father and a California judge in 2008.

The move was originally sold as a means of protecting the star - who'd tragically endured a public breakdown that year - but it later became apparent that the conservatorship meant that the mother-of-two would relinquish all personal, financial, and health-related control to her father.

As a result, her dad - Jamie Spears - also had the majority say in his daughter's professional aims, and could reportedly limit the jobs, gigs, stints, and appearances that Britney could undertake.

This also meant that any TV interviews she gave could be edited as per the family's approval - which is exactly what happened when Britney appeared on The Jonathan Ross Show back in 2016.

Sitting on the famous blue sofa at the time, the chart-topper was promoting her debut album Glory, with the catch-up airing on ITV at the time.

The #FreeBritney movement aided her release from her controversial conservatorship (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

It wasn't until recently, however, that fans learned that producers axed a huge proportion of the interview where Britney discussed the limitations that her conservatorship had placed on her career.

In a new clip which has been doing the rounds on social media, British presenter Ross begins by saying: "Let me ask you about the new album, because you are more involved in this musically, I understand, than previous ones."

He then notes: "You’ve taken control, you’re more in control of your music than before?"

And once Britney is seen confirming, he asks: "Why did it take you so long? Why did you wait until now to do it?"

"Well, just a lot of reasons. I won’t get into the whole story…" Britney replied.

After the host further prompted her, however, she continued: "It was since the conservatorship.

"I’m in a conservatorship; it’s the third year of me being under that, and I just felt like a lot of the things were planned for me to do and being told what to do."

Britney went on to explain: "And I was like, for this [album], I wanna make it my baby, and I wanna do it myself.

"I was very strategic about the way I did it and that’s why it means so much to me."

After the audience broke out into a roar of cheers, Ross then heaped praise onto her: "I’m hoping it will really connect with people and I suspect it will connect with people more when they know it is coming so much from you."

And after asking, 'You seem in a really good place right now - would that be a safe thing to say?', Britney tells him while smiling, 'Yes, sir'.

Many fans of the US star have since gushed over the interview online, with some in shock that the conservatorship discussion hadn't made it to air.

"I’m so happy this got to see the light of day, and it’s making me emotional," one admitted on social media this week.

Another added: "Britney had so much courage to speak out. Her bravery and strength still inspires me to this day".