Why We Care About Britney

I have a theory on why this woman -- who has pretty much tried to take herself off the radar screen for a couple of years -- is so incredibly popular. No doubt, young girls who loved her back in the day still do. But the fascination is much broader.

I don't mean this disparagingly, but Britney Spears is a real life Beverly Hillbilly and the only roots she's lost are on top of her head. When she told Matt Lauer that she's "country," it's true.

A few years ago, I was working out at my gym in Los Angeles. The workout floor is fairly small, so everyone sees everything. Suddenly, I see Britney enter with a very large bodyguard, who stood his distance.

It was utterly fascinating. I've seen plenty of stars cop an attitude in public but there was none of it with her. She was completely real. For starters, she was not looking in the mirror to see who was looking at her. She went about her business, smiling, chewing gum, doing her thing. At one point I was on a bench next to her and it was "hi, how ya doin'?"

Every guy in the gym looked but tried not to and she was just as regular as people get, with one exception -- she put headphones on and shortly thereafter started to dance.