Justin Timberlake: 'I Haven't Spoken to Britney Spears in a Decade'

By Kiki Von Glinow Posted Jun 1st 2011 11:15AM

Talk about love 'em and leave 'em, Justin Timberlake told Vanity Fair that he hasn't spoken to ex, Britney Spears, in "nine or 10 years." Why the stalemate? Timberlake believes that their status as arguably the most famous couple of a generation was fueled by just that, but then they both grew up.

"We were two birds of the same feather -- small-town kids, doing the same thing," Timberlake told Vanity Fair. "But then you become adults, and the way you were as kids doesn't make any sense. I won't speak on her, but at least for me, I was a totally different person. I just don't think we were normal; there was nothing normal about our existence. We spent way too much time being the biggest thing for teenyboppers."

As part of the Mouseketeers -- which also included Spears, Christina Aguilera and Ryan Gosling -- Timberlake's world was larger than life. But unlike today's generation of young Hollywood, who outgrow their adolescence by the time they're 15, Timberlake and the gang were "little kids with big toys. You do the math -- that's not going to last."

But Timberlake did eventually grow up and with his maturity came a more mature love along with it's ugly stepsister, heartbreak.

"She is the single-handedly most significant person in my life," Timberlake said of his ex-girlfriend, Jessica Biel. "In my 30 years, she is the most special person, O.K.? ... I don't want to say much more, because I have to protect things that are dear to me -- for instance, her."

We are all too familiar with the headlines of Hollywood heartbreak, so why double the media scrutiny by dating a fellow celebrity? As Timberlake puts it, a partner who is familiar with fame is the only option.

Justin Timberlake Britney Spears

"Why do you think we wind up dating each other, and feeling more comfortable around each other?" Timberlake pontificates. "We understand what it's like. 'Oh, thank God -- finally, somebody who knows how I feel. It's refuge."

And Timberlake is looking for that refuge now more than ever -- the actor, singer and newfound comedian wants to have a family someday. But happily ever after seems further away than someday for the singer who brought 'Sexy Back.'

"I think the mistake is that people commit to who that person is right then and not the person they're going to become. That's the art of staying together, is changing together. When you say it like that, it seems damn near impossible, right?

Impossible? Maybe. But not for a lack of trying, Timberlake has recently been linked to Hollywood beauties like 'Friends with Benefits' co-star, Mila Kunis, and the similarly newly single, Olivia Wilde.