Britney Spears has denied ‘body shaming’ Christina Aguilera and her dancers, instead insisting that her post was just a ‘projection’ of her own insecurities.

In a Tuesday post, the 40-year-old singer walked back on her comments, and praised Aguilera’s ‘beautiful’ body and thanked the singer for inspiring her.

It comes after the Beautiful singer is said to have unfollowed Spears for suggesting that her back-up dancers were bigger in size than her own.

‘By no means was I being critical of Christina’s beautiful body, it is what it is !!!’ Spears clarified in her post.

‘She is a beautiful woman of power’: Britney Spears DENIES body shaming Christina Aguilera and explains post about ‘fat people’ was a ‘projection’ of her own insecurities (the pair pictured at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards)

‘I flew to see her show once and the main thing I noticed was the difference of our people on stage !!! By no means did I even mention Christina, look at my post !!! I was inspired by her show and she is a beautiful woman of power … Thank you @xtina for inspiring me !!!’ she added.

Fans reacted angrily at Spears’ original post that mentioned Aguilera, as was accompanied by a quote that read: ‘I found there was only one way to look thin: hang out with fat people.’

However, Spears stressed to her fans that she wasn’t trying to be critical of Aguilera or her dancers.

Clarification: Britney posted this image of two elf-like fairies to accompany her post where she sent love to Christina Aguilera

She explained: ‘What I posted is a projection of the insecurities I deal with all the time as a result of how my parents and the media have treated me … I would never intentionally body shame anybody because I know what it feels like.’

‘I struggle with this because of how I feel about myself, not because I hate how anybody looks … I feel like my family knew I was insecure and people were trying to purposefully feed into this insecurity by not letting me have a choice in the people who were on stage with me. I appreciate you all being understanding with me as I figure out this new life I’m living !!!’

In her original post, Spears ranted that she wished she had been able to have chosen her own dancers, after previously complaining that her team would hire ‘tiny’ performers that would make her look bigger onstage.

In a perceived swipe at her former rival Aguilera, she said: ‘I wish I could have chosen the nannies for my children … my dancers … I mean if I had Christina Aguilera’s dancers I would have looked extremely small.’

To make matters worse, her caption was posted alongside quote that read: ‘I found there was only one way to look thin: hang out with fat people.’

It sparked some backlash from fans on Instagram who were shocked at the unfavorable comparison that Spears was making.

‘Britney… body shaming is out,’ one fan wrote, while another said: ‘Oh honey, delete this while you have time.’

In November last year, Spears previously slammed Aguilera for refusing to answer a question about the Free Britney movement during a red carpet appearance.

Ouch: To make matters worse, her caption was posted alongside quote that read: ‘I found there was only one way to look thin: hang out with fat people’

A dig at her rival? Christina is seen performing last month in the UK

Meanwhile, the post comes after Spears said that she will never perform live again and claimed she is ‘traumatized for life’ after being humiliated into working with the ‘tiniest’ backup dancers while on tour.

In a rambling post that has since been deleted, Spears bemoaned her previous experiences as a touring artist, as well as the preparation required for each show.

The singer, who has embarked on a total of ten tours over the last 23-years, also admitted her insecurity was triggered by the lithe female dancers employed to support her onstage.

Opening up: In a rambling post that has since been deleted, 40-year-old Spears bemoaned her previous experiences as a touring artist, as well as the preparation required for each show

She wrote: ‘The most offensive SO CALLED professional pictures on every tour. I mean they could have at least cheated and retouched them for me… just saying… two day shoots for new show in Vegas literally the worst ever… and me excited for the pictures for five months on tour… they never showed me any.’

‘I’d rather quit s*** in my pool and shoot photos of myself in studios over working with the most offensive people in my life.’

The Toxic hitmaker added: ‘I’m extremely short dude but of course my team always hired the tiniest girls to be on stage with me… like 8 girls talk about humiliation good god… and tours WITHOUT conservatorship I only had 4 girls or 2 on stage with me!! JUST SAYING… you think I’m being silly you try being up there and feeling like that.

‘I’m pretty traumatised for life and yes I’m pissed as f*** and no I won’t probably perform again just because I’m stubborn and I will make my point,” she wrote before ending her message by addressing her father directly:  ‘kiss my God damn mother f***ing a** you f**king bas***d.’

Star: The singer, who has embarked on a total of ten tours over the last 23-years, also admitted her insecurity was triggered by the lithe female dancers employed to support her onstage

Britney also vented her frustrations with the ‘pain’ her father inflicted upon her during her saying she wished her parents ‘both burn in hell’.

A California judge ended the pop star’s conservatorship last November after a court revealed that Spears was being forced to use birth control to stop her having a third child.

In the months since, Spears has been unbridled in her public criticism of her family and on Sunday made plain her thoughts on her parents, particularly her father – who allegedly stole from her when he was supposed to be managing her finances.

She wrote on Instagram: ‘Sorry I will never forget because of the pain and the difference in being out of my head clear moving my feet … its only been 10 months since the conservatorship has ended … I wouldn’t wish that kind of pain on anyone !!!’

‘It’s extremely hard for me to accept the fact that my family did that to me … it will be hard for me for the rest of my life … as for my Mom and Dad who sat back and hid coffee from me at the house to wake me up from feeling dead and scared like an old lady … and threw me away … I will say it loud and proud … I pray you both burn in hell.

Britney Spears opens up on strained relationship with sons

Earlier this weekend, Spears vented her frustrations about her sons – who continue to avoid her.

The star’s sons Sean Preston, 16, and Jayden James, 15, have not seen their mother for nearly six months now, and even decided not to attend her June wedding to American-Iranian model Sam Asghari, their father previously revealed to DailyMail.com.

Kevin Federline said last month that the ‘boys have decided they are not seeing her right now,’ noting it has been a difficult few months for them since a judge ruled in November to end her 13-year conservatorship.

In the months since, Spears has taken advantage of her newfound freedom by posting almost nude selfies to Instagram, much to her sons’ disgust, Federline said.

Following these remarks, Spears accused her sons of ‘abandoning her’ and ‘being hateful’ in a now deleted Instagram post, after which Federline, 44, posted a video allegedly showing the singer ‘screaming’ at her sons when they were younger. That video has also now been removed.

Painful time: Judge Brenda Penny ruled last November that a conservatorship placed on Britney Spears by her father Jamie (pictured) 13 years ago must now come to an end

Spears began her rant over the weekend telling her 42.1 million followers how she had a lot on her mind that she needed to get off her chest.

Prior to her father establishing a conservatorship, Spears suffered a well-publicized breakdown following her divorce to Federline. She was then only allowed to see her children in supervised visits under the condition she underwent random drug testing.

But after the conservatorship was established in 2008 Spears acquired shared custody again, and occasional snapshots of her with the boys over the years – beaming at the camera at a baseball match, celebrating birthday dinners, splashing around in a swimming pool – suggested a tender bond between mother and sons was forged.

But Federline was reportedly given 70 percent custody in 2019.

The children then stopped their overnight stays. Their monitors visits became less frequent, until they decided to stop visiting their mom earlier this year.

Sadness: Spears had previously accused her sons of ‘abandoning her’ and ‘being hateful’ in a now deleted Instagram post

In her Instagram video, Spears went on to admonish her kids for ‘making the claims that “she’s not good now” and “she wants attention.”

‘Yeah I do want to be heard, and I’m angry,’ she said. ‘I kind of want to subconsciously offend people because I’ve been offended for so long.’

‘But I’m afraid to inform you guys I’m not willing to see you until I feel valued,’ Spears then revealed, speaking directly to her sons.

‘I won’t be calling your monitor weekly, who never did his job of informing me when you guys were coming.

Her loves: She revealed in an Instagram rant on Saturday that she once saw her sons 70 percent of the time between the ages of six and nine

‘I never said any of this at the time, because I was desperate to see you guys because I wanted to see you guys so bad. But honestly, I should’ve valued myself way more and told you when I was available. I gave you guys so much attention, it was pathetic.’

She finally concluded by saying: ‘All I know is my love for my children is more than anything, and I’m sorry if I ever hurt you guys in any way.

‘I adore you,’ she said, adding that she hopes they could see the message after they blocked her on Instagram.

Keep Smiling! Britney Spears works up a sweat dancing in studio

Past love: Kevin Federline, has custody of the two boys. He is pictured with Britney Spears at the Grammy’s in February 2006