Britney Spears Explains X Factor Walk-Off » Gossip - Britney Spears walked off the set of The X Factor on Monday after a drag queen showed up doing an apparently awful rendition of Spears' "(You Drive Me) Crazy." How come?

Spears explained today that she was just following the instructions of Demi Lovato.. who is incidentally 11 years her junior.

Lovato - who herself reacted unfavorably to a rap about bath salts this week - apparently told Spears during the performance: "Let's go." Spears then followed orders, departing the the set and returning later to tell the performer that she liked the tribute - but it wasn't X Factor material.

For her part, Lovato said she felt bad for the singer, who was apparently on the floor crying after the performance because he thought he nailed it. Sorry dude. Not the case.

It does take some guts to dress in drag and perform a Britney Spears song in front of Britney Spears. But you should probably go into it expecting a walk-off. Or at least a great deal of mockery.

UPDATE: Chimed in L.A. Reid to a Fox affiliate: "Oh, my god, it was just horrible. He thought he was going through. He thought that the cheers were because he was doing such a great job, when the truth is he was horrific. We just couldn't take it anymore."