Britney Spears has given her first interview in two years, telling OK! magazine she wants her children to have a “more normal childhood” than she did and revealing she was shocked at her teenage sister’s pregnancy.

The pop singer, who suffered a drawn out public meltdown before her father took control of her affairs in February, reportedly told the magazine that she hoped her two sons would avoid show business.

“I’d love them unconditionally if they wanted to, [but] I’d just as soon they have a more normal childhood,” she said.

Rumoured to be planning a comeback at this year’s MTV Awards, Spears, 26, described her forthcoming album as “more urban” and her “best work ever”.

She also told the magazine she was “shocked a little bit” when her 17-year-old sister, Jamie Lynn, announced her pregnancy: “She’s always been the baby, and now the baby was having a baby,” she said. “It was mind-boggling.”

Spears added that she hoped her sister’s baby and her children, currently in the custody of her former husband Kevin Federline, would have a close relationship. “I’m sure the boys will be like big brothers to Maddie.”

Spears’ father Jamie, who still has conservatorship over the singer’s estate, also spoke to the magazine. He said that despite her many rehab and hospital admissions, the last few years had turned into a blessing for his relationship with Spears.

“God has a way of taking something bad and turning it into something good,” he said.

“If this hadn’t happened, I would never have been able to get back with my daughter and have this relationship I have with these two little boys.”

OK! described the former chart-topper as a “very different woman” to the one who stormed out of a photo session last year, leaving an array of soiled clothes and shocked staff behind her.

The interview is due to be published tomorrow.

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