Britney Spears’ snake handling days are done. The pop singer, who made headlines at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards when she performed her song “I’m a Slave 4 U” while dancing with a seven-foot albino Burmese python draped across her shoulders, has passed the snake-handling torch to her pre-teen sons.
Spears was already a superstar when she debuted her slithering dance partner 17 years ago at the VMAs, but that dance made both her and the snake MTV legends. At the time, the singer nicknamed the 25-pound snake “Banana.” In 2016, in honor of the 15th anniversary of Spears’ VMA moment, MTV revealed that “Banana” was still alive and well, up to about 100 pounds and 15 feet.
Animal trainer Mike Hano recalled working with the singer back in 2011 when she was just 19-years-old and not particularly fond of snakes.
“She seemed like she was a really hard worker and very determined. She was scared of snakes, and this thing was right around her neck, and she had to dance with it on live television in front of millions of people. …She was afraid of the snake, but she forced herself to handle it, and she did a really great job.”
While she overcame her fear of snakes for what would become her biggest MTV moment, Spears, who is mom to Sean Preston, 12, and Jayden James, 11, probably won’t be recreating her iconic “Slave 4 U” snake dance during her ongoing “Piece of Me Tour” across North America and Europe.
The 36-year-old singer recently posted a photo to Instagram which makes it clear she now leaves the snake handling to her boys. Spears posted a pic of her son holding a small snake and she captioned it with the admission that she was “ready to run.”
You can see Britney Spears’ Instagram photo below.
As for Britney’s big MTV moment, her sons aren’t all that impressed. Spears recently told Entertainment Tonight her kids don’t see her as famous and that she’s just “mom” to them.
“They’re really into skateboarding right now,” Spears told ET . “They’re not into celebrities — they’re into celebrity skateboard people. So mom’s show business thing isn’t really their interest.”
Still, Spears’ sons have joined their mom on the road as she continues her “Piece of Me” tour, and she admitted they “enjoy” hearing her music on the radio.
Britney Spears’ new tour is her first since 2011’s “Femme Fatale” tour. The superstar singer concluded her “Piece of Me” residency in Las Vegas last December.
