No one is happier than Lorna Bliss that superstar Britney Spears's 'train wreck' incarnation is at an end.
For it is no laughing matter when your livelihood as a ' lookalike' depends on impersonating a celebrity who seems hell-bent on self-destruction.
No, not funny at all when, having invested £135,000 over the past ten years on sexy costumes, fishnets, dance routines, choreographers, make-up and blonde hair extensions, Britney goes and shaves her head and piles on the pounds in full meltdown mode.
Today, back-to-blonde Britney, 27, may be staging the biggest comeback since Lazarus with her sell-out Circus world tour, but two years ago it was a different story.
She lost custody of her sons to ex-husband Kevin Federline as her behaviour veered out of control with a police siege, clashes with the paparazzi and an apparent nervous breakdown.
That wasn't quite what Lorna had envisaged when she first donned a sexy schoolgirl outfit and thigh-high socks to belt out Britney's debut No.1, Baby One More Time. But when your life is devoted to 'being Britney' you have to take the rough with the smooth.
'It is definitely a relief Britney's back to her best,' says 28-year-old Lorna from Cambridge, who calls herself The UK's Number 1 Britney Impersonator.
'That was a very tough time. She received so much flak it made me cry.
'When she shaved her hair off, my mum, Carmen, said: "You're not going to do that, are you?" and I said: "Oh no, no." But it's my job to do what Britney does, and I've been impersonating her for so long, I feel there's almost a spiritual connection between us.
'So, just like Britney, I took a pair of hair clippers and shaved my head right down the middle. When I saw the first bald strip in the mirror I wanted to stop because it looked so awful, but I had to continue until it was all gone. My mum cried when she saw it.
'I felt so unfeminine and unattractive and it made me realise how terrible Britney must have been feeling to do something so drastic.
'When I was booked for jobs, people expected me to be exactly like Britney, so I'd have to act like a train wreck, too, which was very hard. But it made me have a lot of sympathy for her and what she was going through.'
As a lookalike, these were lean times for Lorna and she admits she even considered giving it up. After all, there is not much call for a bald superstar with 'issues' - although Lorna gave it her best, growling at photographers and running at them with an umbrella, just like her heroine.
What a bizarre life Lorna Bliss leads. Earning around £45,000 a year as a Britney impersonator, for her it's not just a day job but a way of life. She lives, breathes, eats and sleeps Britney.
'I wanted to become an actor and singer,' says Lorna, the daughter of a civil servant, who studied Performing Arts at university. 'But I'm nowhere near as talented a singer as Britney, so I'm happy to impersonate her and enjoy the adulation she receives.'
It was in 1998, when Britney released Baby One More Time, that Lorna's friends started remarking on her resemblance to the American star.
The following year she saw two adverts for lookalike agencies and sent in some photos, thinking it would be an easy way to make some cash.
Lorna signed up with Entertainment 2000, who paid for a singing coach and choreographers to help her sing, speak and dance like the star, and she borrowed £5,000 from her parents to buy outfits and have her hair dyed.
For a year, she toured UK nightclubs as a tribute act called Great Britney, performing three nights a week for a paltry £100 a night.
When Lorna finished her degree in May 2000, she started working for the agency full-time, performing at birthday parties, business functions and nightclubs.
And although she earns around £45,000, a third of that goes on maintaining her look.
'My outfits are made-to-measure, costing up to £500. Each month I spend £500 on my hair, £80 on waxing and £60 on getting my eyebrows plucked and tinted.'
What she saved in beauty treatments when Britney went into meltdown, she lost with the drop in bookings. These are now back-up since Britney's revival.
'Whatever Britney does, I do, and sometimes it's very hard when she loses weight and I have to go on a diet,' says Lorna. 'When Britney gained weight a few years ago, I started eating more and exercising less.
'When she started the Circus tour, I guessed she was a size 8 and I was a 12. So I started working out, cut out carbohydrates and lost a stone in three weeks.'
It took months, however, for Lorna's hair to grow back and once it was long enough, she had extensions put in.
Lorna is now planning to spend £500 copying Britney's nine tattoos, including a fairy on her lower back, dice on her left wrist and Kabbalah symbols on her neck.
'Although I'm worried about the pain, I can't wait to have them. I'm also planning to get a miniterrier like Britney, called London,' says Lorna.
There is nothing she won't do in her quest to be the best Britney impersonator ever (there are about 18 worldwide and Lorna says she was thrilled when she got a personal mention on Britney's official website).
'It's a fantastic job. I travel all over the world and I have people chasing me for autographs. The most glamorous job I did was appearing on TV in Nepal for New Year's Eve. I had a massive hotel suite, and the staff treated me as if I really were Britney,' says Lorna, who charges between £500 and £1,000 a performance.
'I very rarely have a day off as Britney and sometimes you do feel a bit of a freak, living someone else's life as if it's your own, but it's been really exciting.'
Like Britney, Lorna's love life has been chequered, with her stage persona rather frightening off men. But for 18 months she's been dating Los Angeles-based Johnny Depp lookalike Danny Lopez, 45, whom she met on a TV show.
Surely, she must dream of doing another job or having the freedom just to be herself? Apparently not.
'I can't envisage myself stopping ever,' Lorna says. 'I've never met Britney, but I think she is a very sweet-natured, genuine person. I'm happy that she seems so much healthier, and it feels as if her life really is mine.'
Even so, Lorna must be hoping - given her incredible investment in Britney - that the singer's next incarnation won't hold any nasty surprises.
Story Here
