Madonna has admitted that she feels “maternal” towards Britney Spears.

The queen of pop, who infamously kissed Spears at an awards ceremony in 2003, also said she could identify similarities between their careers.

"There's a certain fragility about her and vulnerability about her that makes me feel maternal towards her," Madonna said in a new documentary about the star.

"There are as pects about her that I recognize in myself when I first started out in my career. I also admire her talent as an artist."

Spears recently joined Madonna in Los Angeles as part of her Sticky & Sweet world tour.

In the MTV documentary, Spears described the last three years of her life, which have been played out vividly in the media, as “a really, a really bad time”.

She added: "My trust has really been battered. I'm very wary of a lot of things.”

Spears released her new album, 'Circus', in the UK today (December 1st) - a day ahead of it's release in the US.