Howie Day

In an interview with London's News of the World, Britney Spears' former bodyguard Tony Barretto claims the troubled star nearly suffered a drug overdose following her rehab stint last spring.

Tony Barretto recently filed a declaration detailing his former employer's drug and alcohol use in the child custody case between Spears and her former husband, Kevin Federline.

His account persuaded a worried judge to order Britney to be tested for drugs twice a week. Not shocking, given Barretto's dramatic account of how Britney...

• OVERDOSED in a drug-strewn hotel room on a binge with junkie lover Howie Day just days after leaving rehab. "She was in a bad state, sweating and shaking. Her pupils were huge... we thought she was dying," said Tony.
• SNORTED cocaine clandestinely with pals in a trendy L.A. club.
• ENDANGERED the lives of her kids by being under the influence of drugs and booze at home while Sean Preston and Jayden James were there.

The enormous Tony Barretto, standing 6'7" and pushing 300 pounds, earning the nickname "Fat Tony," says he decided to come forward because:

"Britney is out of control and needs help. I have done this for her children. She's not a good mother. She has mental problems. With her problems with drugs and booze, her home is no place for kids to be raised."

His remarks capped a nightmare week for Britney Spears in which she was dumped by her manager Jeff Kwatinetz and her lawyer.

She hired married dad-of-two Tony Barretto â€" a former private eye â€" days after checking out of Promises rehab facility in Malibu after one month on March 26, and publicly declaring she had beaten booze and drug problems.

Tony Barretto is a drugs expert after taking a 10 police course about their dangers. He realized Britney Spears' willpower was weak on the night of May 2, mere hours before the start of her "comeback mini-tour" in Anaheim.

On May 2, Britney Spears went on a date with musician Howie Day, 26, who she'd met in rehab, telling her worried protection team she didn't need them.

Tony Barretto said of the lame singer and drug addict: "We did security checks on Howie Day and told her he was trouble. But she ignored us."

Hours later, however, a hysterical, crying Britney, 25, called her aides, claiming that Day was refusing to let her leave their hotel room.

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We've been told by Kevin Federline that he's trash.

But we thought at least he'd stopped getting trashed.

Apparently, however, Howie Day has fallen off the wagon. The 26-year-old "Collide" singer, who befriended Britney Spears after the two met back at Promises Center in March, is apparently back there.

A source close to Howie Day tells Us Weekly simply that: "He has some more issues he has to deal with."

The source did not comment on whether one such issue is his ongoing battle with John Mayer for Lamest Singer of the 21st Century honors.

Howie Day reportedly hooked up with Britney Spears while both were in rehab, and was spotted in L.A. hanging out with the pop star again April 28. 

The loser's problems date back to 2004, when he was arrested after locking a female fan in a bathroom after she refused to perform a sex act on him, and a separate incident in which he was charged with breaking a woman's phone.

Naomi Campbell can appreciate that.

"That was probably wrong of me," Day admitted at the time. "But I felt violated."

Well, that's one way to put it. Here's hoping Howie Day gets violated in an entirely different way back in the good ol' detox facility.

We love Kevin Federline.

Knowing full well how badly he used to be reviled, and that people called him WT on a daily basis, K-Fed recently declared Britney Spears' rumored boytoy, Howie Day, "trash."

K-Fed's slam came when he heard, reports Star and MSNBC, that his ex had a rehab sleepover with musician Day, prompting him to light a smoke and say:

"You have to head to the dump to find trash."

Oh, snap! Britney reportedly hooked up with Howie Day - a very troubled and uber-annoying pop star in his own right - in rehab, and rumor has it the two rekindled the detox flame later after they were released into the outside world.

Ever since Britney went insane, Kevin, who has two kids with her (and two others with Shar Jackson) has kept a relatively low profile, despite rumors to the contrary. But he couldn't resist taking a shot at a chump like Howie Day. 

Nor should he. What's more, says Star, Britney's closest girlfriends are telling her that she shouldn't let Day into her life, but it just fuels Brit's affections.

"It's music to Britney's ears. She likes the drama," says a friend.

No wonder Sean Preston is desperate to escape.

Could Britney Spears be back with Howie Day?

You know, the troubled rocker she supposedly met in rehab and hooked up with a couple of months ago?

Britney was spotted by TMZ Saturday night at Hollywood nightspot Teddy's, and, as Perez Hilton reports, she was with Day, the whiny and annoying crooner she met at Promises Center in Malibu, Calif., during a month-long stint in detox.

Howie Day, you might recall, has been arrested more than once for erratic and dangerous behavior on his tour bus and on an airplane.

He might not be Jason Wahler, but at the same time, this is not the kind of company a rehabbing pop star really needs to keep. 

Plus, his music blows.

Just in case Howie got out of line, though, Britney had a bodyguard the size of a small house with her, so there's no way any funny business was gonna go down.

We can only wonder how J.R. Rotem, another brief Britney fling who's been working with her in the dance studio of late, feels about this rumor.

Last month, we reported that Britney Spears was getting some lovin' in rehab from a rocker named Jason Filyaw. The random dude, who sings in a band called RIVA, confirmed a relationship with Spears before promptly dropping off the face of the planet.

Now, it's looking like Britney Spears may have sparked up yet a different rehab rebound romance while in the detox facility... also with a musician.

Howie Day.

The newly detoxed Spears met Howie Day while at Promises, and according to Life & Style, "fell hard" for the troubled singer-songwriter while in the facility, so hard that she's bringing him to a family wedding in June. 

Britney Spears "just lights up" when she talks about Howie Day and apparently thinks he's "the best kisser ever," according to the magazine.

Still, Brit's mama, Lynne Spears, isn't so stoked about Brit's new man because of his troubled past. He's been arrested - once for locking a fan in his tour bus bathroom and another time for verbally abusing an airline crew while drunk.

A class act, no doubt. But then again, he follows the likes of Kevin Federline, Isaac Cohen, Columbus Short and J.R. Rotem, so at least the bar is set low.

In other Britney news, she stepped out in Beverly Hills last night to help little sister Jamie Lynn Spears ring in her 16th birthday. Brit wore a tight, see-through top with a stain and no bra underneath (see picture above).

Britney's always one for both tact and terrific fashion sense.