Britney Spears’ ex-husband Kevin Federline has spilled the details on the ‘desperate secret’ that he believes sparked the pop star’s recent tragic string of breakdowns-she is a sex addict.

Kevin is telling friends that the star’s instability stems from sex addiction and exhibitionism, due to mixed messages the twenty-five year old received about sexuality from her mother Lynne.

“Her image as a teenager was all about the naughty, sexed-up schoolgirl,” Kevin told pals. “She was overly sexualised and then told not to act on any of it.”

“Britney realized that having wild sex was a way to rebel against her mom,” says a tabloid source. “The day she had sex for the first time, she realized it held the key to regaining her life back from her mother — and she’s been racing down that road ever since.”