Britney Spears ‘breaks up with boyfriend’

Britney Spears has split from her boyfriend of eight months, it has been claimed.

The Pretty Girls singer began dating Charlie Ebersol in October last year. But after deleting all pictures of the 32-year-old from her Instagram account, it has been reported the singer has called time on the romance.

While Britney is yet to confirm the news, she masked any potential heartbreak she might be going through by posting a happy picture of herself in her home state of Louisiana on Sunday.

"So nice to be home! Nothing like Louisiana boys (sic)" she captioned the shot, which featured her smiling widely next to a male friend on a speedboat while wearing a yellow bikini top and shorts. The Toxic singer had her blonde hair pulled back and hidden under a baseball cap and a pair of shades covering her eyes in the image.

While there's no sign of Charlie on her Instagram, pictures of him remain on the 33-year-old's Twitter account.

The couple were last photographed together at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas in May.

Around the same time, it had been claimed that the twice married star was ready to head down the aisle for a third time with Charlie.

"They talked about doing it when her Vegas residency was meant to end in December this year, but now that her show will continue into 2017 they've decided it makes sense to wed during her two-month break this summer," a source told British magazine Closer. "Everyone agrees Charlie is the best thing that's happened to Britney. He hasn't officially proposed, but they speak about wedding plans all the time and Britney even calls herself 'Mrs Ebersol'."