Ryan Gosling: Britney Spears was my girl next door

Ryan Gosling says Britney Spears was his 'girl next door'.

After attending an open audition at the age of 12, he joined the Disney Channel cast alongside the 'Scream & Shout' hitmaker, Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera.

He said: 'Britney was a sweetheart. She lived right above me, the girl next door. The little girl I used to play basketball and spin the bottle with.'

However, over the years the cast lost touch, and Ryan admitted he doesn't still talk to any of the other former child stars.

He told the The Sunday Times newspaper's Style magazine: 'Not really. I mean, sometimes you are at the same event, but it's a lot like I imagine what it's like to run into someone from elementary school.'

Still Ryan, now 32, has said the level the class of 1993 reached was 'remarkable', considering it happened before the age of TV talent shows on the scale of 'The X Factor'.

He added: 'It is remarkable, but it isn't, in a way. Now you have 'The X Factor' and all that stuff, but back then it wasn't around.

'You give these kids an unparalleled work ethic which is why you see the difference between 'NSYNC and those other bands, and between Britney and Christina and the other girls.'