CHRISTINA AGUILERA - AGUILERA HAD BREAKDOWN AFTER SPEARS COMPARISONS

DIRRTY singer CHRISTINA AGUILERA suffered a breakdown after the release of her debut single - because she loathed being compared to her pop rival BRITNEY SPEARS.

Aguilera hoped the media would forget she starred with the TOXIC star in children's TV show THE MICKEY MOUSE CLUB when she was just 12-years-old, and was devastated when they dubbed her "the next Britney" after the release of her 1999 track GENIE IN A BOTTLE.

She explains, "I had some sort of breakdown after being confined in this shell. It was a time when I felt, how can I break out of this shell?'

"I was shedding a skin, this image that the label tried to put upon me where I felt I was suffocating after a while. (The album) STRIPPED was very true to the person I was."