Britney Spears announces engagement to Sam Asghari

Singer said her conservatorship terms had prevented her from marrying her Iranian-born partner of five years

Britney Spears and Sam Asghari at the Glaad Media Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in April 2018. Getty Images

Britney Spears and Sam Asghari, with her sons Sean Federline and Jayden James Federline, attend a basketball game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors in November 2017. Getty Images

Britney Spears and Sam Asghari arrive at the premiere of Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood at the TCL Chinese Theatre in July 2019. AFP

Britney Spears and Sam Asghari attend the 2019 Daytime Beauty Awards. AFP

Sam Asghari wearing Zuhair Murad's Rise from the Ashes T-shirt in August 2020. Sam Asghari / Instagram

Sam Asghari in Britney Spears's 2016 Slumber Party video. YouTube

Sam Asghari and Camila Cabello in Fifth Harmony's Work From Home video in February 2016. YouTube

Britney Spears and Sam Asghari in January 2020. Sam Asghari / Instagram

Sam Asghari as a child, with his parents. Instagram / Sam Asghari

Sam Asghari attends the Can You Keep A Secret? premiere in August 2019. Getty Images

Britney Spears is engaged to Sam Asghari.

The Oops!... I Did It Again singer announced on Sunday that she is to marry her Iranian-born partner, posting a video on Instagram showing off a sizeable diamond ring.

"I can't believe it," she wrote, with a series of diamond ring emojis.

In the video, Spears, 39, shows off her ring hand in various poses with Asghari, 27, filming and smiling at the camera.

At one stage, Asghari says, "Look at that, you like it?". The singer replies with an enthusiastic, "Yes!"

Asghari also posted a photo to Instagram and his manager, Brandon Cohen, confirmed the engagement news, telling People: "The couple made their long-standing relationship official today and are deeply touched by the support, dedication and love expressed to them."

Spears has been dating the actor and personal trainer since 2016. They met on the set of the singer's Slumber Party video. Asghari plays the singer's love interest in the music video set in an old mansion, which is being used as a nightclub.

The singer is currently fighting a legal battle to end the 13-year conservatorship that controls her personal life and finances.

In June, Spears spoke in court, revealing that the conservatorship terms prevent her from having any more children or getting remarried.

She has been married twice, first to childhood friend Jason Alexander in January 2004, but the Las Vegas marriage was annulled after 55 hours.

She then married Kevin Federline in September 2004. The couple divorced in July 2007 and have two sons: Sean Preston, 15, and Jayden James, 14.

Who is Sam Asghari?

In the past, Asghari has said he is looking forward to a "normal, amazing future" with the singer.

He was born in Tehran but moved to the US to be with his father when he was 12.

However, his whole family did not move together. He explained to Forbes in a March interview: "I actually left my family behind at the time because my family was still going through FBI check and immigration process.

"I left three of my sisters behind, my mum behind. My dad was out here in America and I hadn’t seen him in about five years or so. It was definitely a culture shock, coming out here with a completely different language to speak."

In a separate interview, he told Men's Health magazine in 2018: "I had to leave my friends and family who I was very close with, and I knew I was moving away and never coming back."

He moved to Los Angeles, where his father was working as a lorry driver.

Of the "culture shock" of moving to the US, Asghari explained to Forbes: "I didn't speak a word of English and it was a weird age where I was finally so comfortable with my friends and [I had to] leave them behind to start a new life.

"So when I got out here, it was very different, but I always had a positive mindset. I always knew that I was coming to a country where opportunity was the equivalent to gold. I was brought up by my dad knowing and understanding that we were coming here for a better life."