It's been 10 years since Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake ended their three-year romance and it was all downhill from there.
To be fair, it was uphill for Timberlake, while Spears has spent the past decade on a roller coaster of highs and lows. The 30-year-old star is currently at a bright spot once again with a hosting gig on "The X Factor," a stable relationship and a personal fortune estimated at more than $200 million.
But last month, Leon Gladstone, the attorney representing the singer's parents in a defamation case against Sam Lutfi, told the court that it was after her relationship with Timberlake "ended painfully" that they began to notice a change in their daughter. According to the lawyer, prior to the relationship with Justin, Britney was a "ray of light," but after the breakup she became "angered and depressed."
Following the breakup, Timberlake broke things off with his boys in *NSYNC, and went on to a very successful solo career. While the split may have led Spears on a downward spiral, it helped Timberlake distance himself from a bubblegum boy-band pop image, and gave him the inspiration to launch his career in whole new direction.
The split clearly changed both their lives, so we had to wonder what would -- or wouldn't -- have happened if Britney and Justin never broke up?
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