Britney and Adnan’s excellent adventure

After a brief trip to Mexico, where she reportedly vanished to escape her parents' efforts to have her committed to a mental hospital, Britney Spears's whirlwind adventure with her new friend, paparazzo Adnan Ghalib, saw the pair back at her home in Hollywood yesterday. The fact that Ghalib has been tipping off his photo agency as to the couple's whereabouts, in order to ensure their high jinks are well documented, does not appear to have dented the popster’s trust in him.

Spears, 26, wore a hot pink wig as she and Birmingham-born Ghalib, 35, arrived in a black SUV at a Rosarito beach hotel, just south of the Mexican border, on Wednesday afternoon. Photographs posted on Finalpixx - Ghalib's agency - show Ghalib finger-feeding whipped cream from a Starbucks cup to Spears. There are also brief captions such as "What will Britney and Adnan do next? Stay tuned and watch this space."

Media reports earlier in the week suggested Spears was suffering from an undiagnosed bipolar disorder and that her family was planning an intervention to get her the help she needs. To that end, the family invited Dr Phil McGraw, a TV therapist and Oprah favorite, to reach out to the troubled singer during her hospital stay. However, after the encounter, McGraw promptly spoke to the media and announced plans to talk more about Spears on his daytime talk show this week. A spokeswoman for the Spears family then told NBC’s Today show that McGraw had violated their trust.

The current saga began when police were called to Spears's home a week ago after she refused to relinquish custody of her two children to their father, ex-husband Kevin Federline. She was taken off by ambulance to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center because she "appeared to be under the influence of an unknown substance", though blood tests showed negative for anything illicit. Nevertheless, she was deemed a "special needs" patient and held for psychiatric evaluation before being released two days later.

At the scene of the standoff, the Los Angeles Police Department issued a restraining order preventing Spears visiting her children, pending a custody hearing on January 14.