OK! Exclusive: Britney's Secret VMA Tape

Following disastrous VMA performance, many fans wondered why the pop star would have decided to go on stage in front of millions in the first place. Didn't she know how bad it was going to be? Well, OK! has learned that Brit was kept completely in the dark about how potentially embarrassing the show would be.

"The rehearsal was taped and given to her people to review," one production insider reveals to OK!. "But we weren't allowed to let Brit know that the tape even existed because her management was convinced that she'd never go through with it if she saw herself."

The ironic thing is, according to the source, that the rehearsal tape was nowhere near as horrifying as what ultimately aired on MTV. "The practice wasn't horrible; just low energy," the insider recalls to OK!. "I think everyone figured she was saving herself for the real deal and was going to step up to the plate and give a great performance."

Meanwhile, the song that played while Britney loped lazily around the VMA stage, "Gimme More," has reportedly seen a severe downturn in its radio airplay since the "It's Britney [expletive]" heard-round-the-world.