The pop icon will release her memoir, ‘The Woman in Me,’ on Oct. 24

Britney Spears and Colin Farrell in 2003. PHOTO: KEVIN WINTER/GETTY IMAGES

Britney Spears was still reeling from her breakup with Justin Timberlake when she had her whirlwind romance with Colin Farrell.

Spears, 41, opens up about her high-profile 2003 fling with the Irish actor, 47, in her new memoir The Woman in Me, revealing that they got together after she and Timberlake split in March 2002.

The “Piece of Me” singer writes that she met the actor when he was filming the 2003 action flick S.W.A.T.

Spears and Farrell had “a two-week brawl,” she writes in the book. “Brawl is the only word for it — we were all over each other, grappling so passionately it was like we were in a street fight.”

Britney Spears.BRITNEY BRANDS

Farrell, who was 26 at the time, and Spears took their romance public shortly after, with the actor bringing the pop star along as his date to the January 2003 premiere of his movie The Recruit.

In Spears’ book, she writes that she tried to avoid getting “too attached” to Farrell when she was still hung up on Timberlake.

“As I had before when I’d felt too attached to a man, I tried to convince myself in every way that it was not a big deal, that we were just having fun, that in this case I was vulnerable because I wasn’t over Justin yet,” she writes.

At the premiere, Farrell opened up to reporters about their relationship.

“We’re not dating,” he said at the premiere, per Entertainment Weekly. “She’s a sweet, sweet girl. There’s nothing going on — just mates.”

Spears eventually went on to marry second husband Kevin Federline in 2004, and the two welcomed sons Sean Preston, 18, and Jayden James, 17, before splitting in 2007. Farrell, meanwhile, has son James, 20, with model Kim Bordenave, and son Henry, 14, with actress Alicja Bachleda-Curuś.

Britney Spears, ‘The Woman in Me’.

Spears is now reclaiming her voice after her 13-year conservatorship was terminated in 2021.

“Over the past 15 years or even at the start of my career, I sat back while people spoke about me and told my story for me,” she told PEOPLE over email in an interview for this week’s cover story. “After getting out of my conservatorship, I was finally free to tell my story without consequences from the people in charge of my life.”

For more of the exclusive excerpt and interview with Britney Spears, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands everywhere Friday.