Los Angeles, Oct 15 (IANS): Singer-songwriter Jessica Simpson recently spoke about an awkward encounter with a fan. She took to her Instagram, and shared that she had just been approached by an autograph seeker during an outing to the mall.

However, as it turned out, it was a case of mistaken identity. "The face when someone in the parking lot at the mall asks you for your autograph, but expects you to sign it, ‘Britney Spears’" Simpson quipped, alongside a photo of her and daughter Maxwell Drew, 11, making exaggerated shocked faces for the camera, reports ‘People’ magazine.

It's not all that surprising that a fan might get the two pop stars mixed up. They both rose to fame on the music scene around the same time in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and share a few other notable things in common, including their bright blonde hair, dark brown eyes, Southern roots and childhood stints on the ‘Mickey Mouse Club’.

As per ‘People’, they also both starred in reality shows with their former significant others — Simpson in MTV's ‘Newlyweds’ with ex-husband Nick Lachey, and Spears, 41, in UPN's ‘Britney and Kevin: Chaotic’ with ex Kevin Federline.

Spears even made her own nod to the duo's resemblance in a December 2022 Instagram post. "Why do I look EXACTLY like Jessica Simpson? Also my face looks so pale”, she wrote alongside a throwback photo of herself sucking in her cheeks, making her look more like the ‘I Wanna Love You Forever’ singer.

Though the pair was often pitted against each other and portrayed by the media as rivals during their pop heyday, Simpson has openly supported Spears in recent years.