Heavy/Getty/Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen/YouTube Andy Cohen, Britney Spears
“The Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Danielle Cabral’s time on Bravo isn’t her first television appearance. In a July 24 Instagram post, Cabral shared a video of her 2003 appearance on an MTV “TRL” special dedicated to pop star Britney Spears, where a 16-year-old Cabral performed an original rap about the singer in front of Spears in hopes of being named her number one fan, a title which she won with her performance.
“December 2, 1981, Miss Britney Jean Spears was born to make us happy, in a small town named Kentwood, Louisiana,” the rap began, with Cabral continuing to rap different facts about Spears to the full audience, including her favorite color (“baby blue”) and her favorite snack (“vanilla chip cookie dough”), as well as different milestones in her career, before sharing some of the reasons why she was Spears’ biggest fan.
In her July 2024 post, Cabral lip-synced along to her younger self without skipping a beat, having memorized the original rap. See the video below.
Danielle Cabral Reflects on Meeting Britney Spears
Cabral, who also shared the original “TRL” clip on TikTok, reflected on her time meeting and performing in front of Spears in her Instagram post’s caption.
“The year was 2003, and @mtv was IT! I was 16, and I was picked to compete on stage for the title of Britney’s #1fan. I remember exactly where I was when I got the call – in my basketball coaches office. I cried. I couldn’t believe it!” Cabral wrote. “I rushed home and wrote my ‘rap’ on paper and memorized it. Practicing day and night. We filmed in Times Square. My parents weren’t allowed in the studio, so they watched from home.”
Cabral went on to write about the first moment she saw Spears on set, adding, “Sound check time. Then we heard it. ‘Hey yall, test one teww, test one teww.’ My heart skipped a beat. I teared up. At the age of 16, I somehow got my way on a stage to perform for Britney Spears. Cameras go up. I took a deep breath and just went for it. And…. I won! I friggin won! THIS was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. Britney was my idol. She was everything to me!”
Danielle Cabral Has Other Television Experience
Cabral’s 2003 “TRL” appearance wasn’t her only time on the small screen before joining RHONJ for season 13 in 2023. One eagle-eyed fan spotted Cabral in a 2006 episode of MTV’s “True Life”, sharing a clip of her episode on TikTok in February 2023.
According to Cabral’s website, her episode, “I’m a Staten Island Girl” was the highest-rated of the series, and led her to go on to host “multiple shows for MTV.” In 2012, Danielle and her husband Nate Cabral then went on to appear in the DIY Network series, “Family Under Construction”.
According to IMDb, the series followed Danielle and Nate as they bought and renovated a 40-year-old home days after their wedding. After it took them over 10 months to finish one room in the suburban home, Danielle convinced Nate to hire a contractor and the couple gave themselves a two-month deadline to finish the home.
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