Mel Gibson: Spears Dad Pulled Her Through Breakdown

The 'Braveheart' actor phoned the pop star to offer her advice while she was struggling through her recent problems.

He said: "She's a nice kid. She was just going through a rough patch. You see kids that you know in the industry... I just felt like this poor kid she's lining up to be stoned. I just thought, 'I wonder if anyone is reaching out to her', so I just called her and she's doing great now."

Britney's public meltdown saw her shave her head in February 2007 and culminated in her being hospitalised in January 2008 and losing custody of her two sons Sean Preston, three, and Jayden James, two.

She has since got her career and life back on track and is to embark on her new 33-date tour 'Circus' on March 3.

Despite his friendship with Britney, Mel - who invited the 27-year-old star to holiday with his family in Costa Rica last March - does not take any credit for helping the 'Womanizer' singer out of her troubled spell.

He told US TV talk show host Jimmy Kimmel: "It's got nothing to do with me. She pulled herself out of this, and her dad - he's the real hero."

The 53-year-old Hollywood actor also revealed his regret at not helping actor Heath Ledger before his tragic death in January last year from an accidental drug overdose.

He said: "I should have called him years before. I didn't really know the ins and outs of what was up with him, but I don't believe it was just an accident. Maybe, I could have called him. When you see sort of an impending tragedy that might go wrong, it just felt like I should do something about it."

Heath won the best supporting actor Oscar last night (22.02.09) for his role in 'The Dark Knight' - which he was working on at the time of his death.

Source: Yahoo!

Finally...someone who actually has a brain speaks out!