Heidi Montag Breaks Silence On 'Messy' Scrapped Britney Spears Duet

Singer Heidi Montag almost had a collaboration with none other than the Princess of Pop herself, Britney Spears.

The now 42-year-old pop star has released two duets since her controversial 13-year conservatorship ended in November 2021 and a highly successful memoir titled "The Woman In Me."

Heidi Montag's career could have gone in a totally different direction if she had been able to collaborate with the "Toxic" singer early on in her career.

“It’s too messy to get into, but it’s a whole thing,” she said on Page Six’s “Virtual Reali-Tea” podcast while promoting her partnership with Hydroxycut.

For her fifth studio album, Blackout, Britney recorded a song called "Dramatic." The track, produced by Damon Elliott, was unfortunately not included on the final cut of the LP, which was released in October 2007.

A few months later, in March 2008, a version of “Dramatic” with both Britney and Heidi's vocals was sent to Ryan Seacrest, who premiered it on his radio show. Unfortunately for fans, the song was never given an official release.

Britney's record label at the time, Jive Records, even went as far as to claim that "This was never a planned song or duet in any way." However, now, more than fifteen years later, Heidi Montag is sharing a different side of the story.

“Yeah, it’s a whole interesting story. And [my husband] Spencer [Pratt] just brought that up to me the other day. He was like, ‘Maybe we just put out “Dramatic” without Britney in it and you record those parts,’” she said. “I didn’t ever fully record the song myself.”

In January 2010, Heidi eventually dropped her own full-length album, titled Superficial. She even recorded the song "Fashion" - which was written by Lady Gaga - by herself.

However, on “Virtual Reali-Tea,” Heidi claims that the "Just Dance" singer took the track back for herself once it was selected for 2009’s “Confessions of a Shopaholic” soundtrack.

"This was supposed to be one of my main songs. Then I recorded it and RedOne put out a statement of how great it was and how great he thought it was,” Heidi explained, referring to producer and frequent Lady Gaga collaborator, Nadir Khayat.

“And [Gaga] lost it and freaked out, and RedOne had to put out [another] statement of, like, ‘Oh, I take it back,’ after he got, like, yelled at by Gaga," Heidi continued.

“That was my song. And then ‘Confessions of a Shopaholic’ came because they heard me [on] it and wanted … the song. And I think what happened … she was like, ‘No, that’s my song. I’ll record it,’” she added.

Another song that she talked about was Hilary Duff’s “Reach Out,” which was the lead single from the 2008 “Best Of” compilation album.

"Hilary Duff was just bigger and she was a singer and had the track record and definitely had the priority. So once I wanted it, the A&R were like, ‘Sorry, Hilary’s people just took it,’” she explained. “I was like, ‘OK, well, sure. No problem.’”

Instead, Heidi was given the song "Body Language," which featured a “very expensive” sample from Yaz’s 1982 hit “Situation” that her then-distributor, Warner Music, paid for.

“I think I would rather have ‘Body Language,’” she explained. “I thought that was better. I actually love ‘Body Language’ more [than ‘Reach Out’], so I’m not mad about it.”

She is also happy that her debut album is making a comeback in 2023. “I love music, I love pop, it’s always been the biggest dream of mine,” she said. “So to see if have such success has been the biggest blessing.”

Seeing so many fans enjoy her music this year has inspired her to release more songs from her Superficial era, including the song "Bad Boy." The track was released on streaming platforms last week.

“I love ‘Bad Boy.’ It was one of my favorite songs. With the rebirth of ‘Superficial,’ basically, and ‘I’ll Do It’ becoming so internationally trendy, [we were] like, ‘OK, let’s just bring some things out of the vault,’” she said. “There are a few more in the vault coming out and we’ll see where it goes from there."