This last year was not all that for Jamie Lynn Spears.
The Zoey 101 star recently opened up about her public feud with Britney Spears following the end of the singer's 13-year-conservatorship and the emotional impact it had on both her and her children—especially her oldest daughter, Maddie, 15.
"It makes me sad," Jamie Lynn tearfully explained to Variety in an interview published July 19. "I don't want my daughter to feel that way. So I have to say I will absolutely not allow my children—especially my oldest daughter, who was very affected by all of it—I will not allow her to feel this way in her life."
But despite the scrutiny from both her sister and the public, the 32-year-old, who is also mom to 5-year-old daughter Ivy with husband Jamie Watson, noted that it's because of her kids that she keeps moving forward. (She shares Maddie with ex-boyfriend Casey Aldridge.)
"My strength is out of the love for my children and wanting to make sure that I don't give way to anything other than what I know to be authentic and true," she continued. "It was hard, but at the end of the day, look where I am now."
In recent years, fans have seen Britney and Jamie Lynn's complicated relationship play out on social media, with the "Stronger" singer calling out her little sister over her 2022 memoir Things I should Have Said. In fact, following its release that January, Britney called Jamie Lynn "scum" in a since-deleted Instagram post and also had had her lawyer send the Sweet Magnolias actress a cease-and-desist letter.
These days, their fractured relationship seems to be on the mend as Britney, who is releasing her own memoir later this year, posted on social media that she had visited the Zoey 102 star on set.
However, Jamie Lynn is keeping mum when it comes to how she and Britney are doing.
"I have nothing but absolute love for every single one of my family members," she noted. "If I learned anything from last year, being so open and feeling like I had to defend myself at times, I don't feel like there's anything else that I need to say."
As such, she's firm in keeping her private life just that.
"I just have to leave it where it is because those conversations are meant to be personal," she added. "All I can focus on now is my girls, my husband and the work that I'm doing."
As for whether the two sisters—who have yet to collaborate on music together—will ever take the stage together again? That's an answer that remains to be seen.
"I don't know," Jamie Lynn confessed. "I think right now I'm really just focused on me and what I'm doing. I've worked very hard to be able to be a part of shows like Sweet Magnolias. And then fighting hard to bring back a character from my childhood. That is all I can think about right now because my dreams are coming true."