Leann Rimes once stated that she worked very hard to have the body she had, and she intended to show more of it in the future. If she had followed that proposal through to the policy stage, she’d have joined a select group of female singing stars who have made it their business to flash some flesh - a group that includes such colourful individuals as Cher, Kylie and Dannii Minogue, Mariah Carey, Madonna and Christina Aguilera.

But no matter how far Leanne dares to bare, there’s little chance that she’ll ever compete for territory with the girl whose many and varying degress of nudity have been the very signature of her career - Britney Spears. Most stars strip sparingly, reluctantly and for some specfic reason. Britney seems to do it with surprising enthusiasm and a complete absence of inhibition.

But why does she “like to show a lot of skin” as one writer put it? Is it, as celeb biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli believes, because she’s uncertain and insecure about her looks and sex appeal and is constantly seeking validation? Is it because she’s a Southern girl and they’re all overheated down there? Is she a shameless attention seeker? Or is it simply that she’s a consummate professional and knows it’s something she has to do?

In the early stages of Britney’s second pregnancy, while she was thinking about nothing but mommyhood, we had a brief opportunity to speculate on which of these motivations would be manifested in her next exercise in nudity. It looked like a racing certainty that skin would be involved when she started planning her return to work and the cutting edge of her promo campaign would be her image. Some of Britney’s own utterances earlier in the year left the fans feeling somewhat confused. She emphasized the duties and responsibilities of motherhood, and in saying she wanted to be “a pretty mom” she didn’t seem to be thinking of Playboy centerfold status. On the other hand, when “Glamour” magazine asked her if she would consider going naked in her next movie, her affirmative answer came in a heartbeat.

If the Taraborrelli theory is correct, she’ll only keep stripping off for as long as it takes to get into a long-term relationship with a guy (or girl!) who remembers to express admiration, praise and desire on a frequent and regular basis. If her clothes falling off is a natural part of her Southern heritage, it’s surprising that the paparazzi haven’t managed to catch a clear view of her nipples in almost 7 years of trying. If she’s primarily an attention seeker she’d surely have done Playboy by now. The attraction would have been irresistible - unless she’s holding it in reserve for the rainiest of rainy days. It's true that, as a professional gambit, there have been times - such as in most of her recent videos - where rolling or gyrating around in skimpy underwear has indeed seemed little more than a calculated appeal to a certain percentile of her demographic. But there's always been more to it than that.

Look at it this way. It came as no big surprise that pregnant Britney stripped naked for a magazine photoshoot. If there had been a nationwide poll for mom-to-be-most-likely-to, Brit would have won hands down. It was no major shock either to see her publicist say that she wanted to do it during her first pregnancy. But her Harper’s Bazaar shoot wasn’t a promotional opportunity, she did it in chilly New York, not steamy Louisiana, and to reveal herself at her fattest and least svelte didn’t seem like typical attention-seeking behavior. My guess, actually, is that she strips because she enjoys it. It makes her feel sexy. She loves the feeling of outrageousness and the erotic charge. And she likes to tease.

For most of her early career she protected her ultimate assets with wonderful care and attention to detail, but - in the light of the apparent changes in her personality post-Justin and the raunchiness she showed us in “Chaotic” - I became convinced a while ago that she was turned on by risk too. And I predicted that the day would soon come when she deliberately put herself in a position where she knew the paparazzi would capture more of her than we had ever expected to see. I was expecting a topless or completely nude revelation on an exotic island somewhere, or on a private yacht. What we actually got were her notorious vagina pictures. Maybe this was her way of expressing the feeling I sensed in her, but I still have some reservations. To me those pictures feel like something the paparazzi stole, rather than something she purposely gave them.

But to go back a little. What fascinated me most about the Harper’s spread was that almost everybody (the vile Perez Hilton apart) loved it. Yes, yes, I know she was a pregnant woman and as such was pretty much guaranteed a relatively easy ride from the press. But this was BRITNEY SPEARS, for **** sake. If people hadn’t meant their compliments sincerely they’d surely have made an exception in her case and slammed her as usual. No, she looked beautiful in those pictures. Not just “beautiful for a pregnant woman”. Beautiful without reservation or qualification.

Back in 2004 I was horrified by the rumors that Britney was pregnant. I hated the idea of this perfect girl having her wonderful body distorted and spoiled. But there was something about the glossy black hair and the sumptuous curves that has haunted me since I saw the Harper’s pictures. In my imagination I photoshop away the pregnant tummy and leave this sleek, plump girl with the big, full breasts and thighs and the big, round, perfect butt. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so sexy. In that moment, Britney Spears could have become an icon for a new generation of real women. I’d love to look like that, and I wouldn’t be alone. Kick out those skinny, anorexic girls!

Instead, she’s constantly reviled as a not-slim-enough slim girl or a fat girl wishing she was thin. Numerous “drastic plastic surgery” stories have been fashioned around this perception. Britney will be only too aware of all of this, and therefore I’ll make another prediction. The potential motivators I listed above will all combine together in an explosive mixture some time in 2008 and we’ll see a spectacularly trimmed and toned Britney completely naked in some context or other. Even in the Harper’s spread she managed to cover up anything too revealing, but I don’t think she’ll bother next time.

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