All the Ways Ariana Madix Has Said Britney Spears Inspired Her Before DWTS ‘I’m a Slave 4 U’ Performance

Ariana Madix draws inspiration from Britney Spears and how the iconic pop singer has remained resilient through life’s difficult trials.

Ahead of her performance of “I’m a Slave 4 U” for Music Video Night on Dancing with the stars The Bravolebrity, 38, opened up Tuesday about how Spears and her new memoir, The woman in me they motivated her to keep her head high in difficult and unpleasant moments.

During Vanderpump Rules panel at BravoCon 2023 over the weekend, the cast of the Emmy-nominated reality show talked about filming the upcoming season after “Scandal” — prompting Madix to mention Spears.

“Honestly, going into this season, I was thinking the whole time, if Ariana can do it, so can I,” James Kennedy said of her strength, before Madix replied, “That’s how I feel about Britney. If Britney Spears can do it, so can I.”

Ariana Madix.

Ralph Bavaro/BRAVO via Getty

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In May, Madix and her longtime partner of nine years, Tom Sandoval, made headlines after news broke of his affair with her friend and co-star Rachel “Raquel” Leviss. When it came time to tape Season 11 of the Bravo show, Sandoval returned to face the rest of the cast, while Leviss left reality television for good.

Meanwhile, fans know Spears, 41, has been through many ups and downs in her life — from her storied career to her tumultuous love life and everything in between. The woman in me recounts those experiences from Spears’ life from her perspective.

“For the past 15 years or even the beginning of my career, I sat while people talked about me and told my story for me,” Spears told PEOPLE. “After I got out of conservatorship, I was finally free to tell my story without repercussions from the people who were in charge of my life.”

Britney Spears.

Hahn Lionel/ABACA/Shutterstock

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The Something About Her co-founder also spoke in interviews about her admiration for the Grammy Award-winning artist.

“I love Britney so much,” she said Extra. “There’s a bit where she talks about the head shaving situation and I cried listening to her talk about it. It was so touching. And I can totally relate to everything she said about it, just FU of it all.”

She added, referring to her upcoming DWTS performance: “I just think she’s so strong and so resilient. God, I just have to satisfy her next week because she’s my girlfriend.”

Ariana Madix and Pasha Pashkov in ‘Dancing with the Stars’.

ABC/Christopher Willard

Acknowledging the challenges she’s also had to overcome in the past year, Madix remarked, “Maybe me and Britney can be friends.”

The reality star crushes the competition with her partner Pash Pashkov Dancing with the stars.

On last week’s show, judge Carrie Ann Inaba told the television personality that she was the first in the competition.

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After the performance, Madix told PEOPLE that Inaba’s comment was “very exciting” but added “a lot of pressure” as he moves forward on the ABC series.

“I don’t want her to feel at any point in the coming weeks that she was wrong to say that,” she said of Inaba’s praise. “I want to make her feel like what she said was true.”

Madix said she and Pashkov hope to stay at the top of the rankings by “working hard, staying focused, keeping our eyes on our own papers and just doing the best version of ourselves that we can.”

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Dancing with the stars airs Tuesdays at 8:00 PM ET on ABC and Disney+.

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Source: HIS Education