The pop singer writes that she “never had a drinking problem” in her new memoir ‘The Woman in Me,’ out Oct. 24
Britney Spears is looking back on her partying phase.
The “Hold Me Closer” singer, 41, became friendly with Paris Hilton
around the time she and ex-husband Kevin Federline’s marriage began to crumble in 2006
and writes in her new memoir The Woman in Me that her outings with the heiress around that time were actually relatively tame.
Image Group LA/Disney Channel via Getty Images; Jon Kopaloff/WireImage; Jamie McCarthy/Getty
Britney Spears; Paris Hilton; Lindsay Lohan
“It was never as wild as the press made it out to be,” she writes in the book.
Related: Britney Spears Opens Up: ‘Finally Free’ to Share Her Story in Bombshell Memoir & New Interview — ‘No More Lies’ (Exclusive)
Paris Hilton and Britney Spears in 2008
Spears writes in the book that she “never had a drinking problem” and that hard drugs weren’t appealing to her. The pop performer’s “drug of choice,” she reveals, was the ADHD medication Adderall, which “made me high, yes, but what I found far more appealing was that it gave me a few hours of feeling less depressed.”
Hilton, for her part, recounted the events leading up to the iconic paparazzi shot of Spears and actress Lindsay Lohan in an episode of her podcast This Is Paris, and said that she and Spears had attended a friend’s party at the Beverly Hills Hotel and decided to leave and go home.
As they headed to their car, Lohan — who was in the midst of some “drama” with Hilton — approached.
“All of a sudden, I looked over, and she’s in my car. We weren’t getting along, so I was polite,” Hilton recalled. “It was really hard just to even get out of there, because I couldn’t see just with all the cameras.”
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Meanwhile, in a recent chat with PEOPLE, Hilton praised Spears “for telling her story” in her new book, saying she’s “so proud” of the singer.
“I know how hard it can be doing a memoir because you have to really dive in and think about so many moments in your life that I’m sure you don’t even want to think about,” she said. “But it is truly such a healing experience, and writing my book [Paris: The Memoir] has changed my life in so many ways. So I’m really hoping that she feels the same way with this. I am just proud of what a strong woman she is.”
Spears’ debut memoir — now available for pre-order — will be released Oct. 24 through Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.
In an interview with PEOPLE done by email, Spears said she’s happy to reclaim her own narrative.
“Over the past 15 years or even at the start of my career, I sat back while people spoke about me and told my story for me,” she says. “After getting out of my conservatorship, I was finally free to tell my story without consequences from the people in charge of my life.”
For an exclusive excerpt and interview with Britney Spears, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands everywhere Friday.