Britney Spears: Louis Walsh claims singer was ‘on so much medication’ on The X Factor she struggled to sit up straight

‘She was just sitting there physically, but she wasn’t there mentally,’ TV judge claimed

Louis Walsh has claimed that Britney Spears was taking “so much medication” while judging the US series of The X Factor that she struggled to sit up straight in her chair.

The Irish music manager briefly worked alongside Spears on season two of the competition series in 2012, with the “Toxic” singer serving as a full-time judge while Walsh stood in for Simon Cowell for a number of episodes. Demi Lovato was also on the panel.

Speaking to The Irish Independent, Walsh said that alarm bells began to ring for him while working with Spears on the show.

“I was sitting with Britney for two days and after every few auditions she would go-” Walsh said, acting out slumping over in a chair with his neck flopping.

“They would literally have to stop the show and take her out because she was on so much medication and other stuff. I felt sorry for her.”

Walsh continued: “Here she was, the biggest pop star on the planet, and she was just sitting there physically, but she wasn’t there mentally. She had a lot of problems.”

Asked whether Spears should have been in treatment rather than judging The X Factor, he added: “She was getting millions of dollars to do it, so why the f*** wouldn’t she sit there?”

Spears during promotion for The X Factor in 2012 (Getty Images)

The Independent has contacted Spears’s representatives for comment.

There has been a renewed interest in Spears’s mental health following the release of Framing Britney Spears, a documentary looking into the singer’s rise to fame and legal conservatorship.

Spears has been in a conservatorship for 13 years and is expected to address a court for the first time in years later this month to discuss her hopes for the legal guardianship going forward.