Britney Spears is reflecting on one of the most iconic moments of her career.

While fans undoubtedly remember her performing Im a Slave 4 U with an albino Burmese python wrapped around her shoulders, Spears shares in her upcoming memoir what that iconic moment at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards actually felt like and says it was genuinely terrifying.

The plan was for me to sing Im a Slave 4 U, and we decided I would use a snake as a prop, writes Spears in an excerpt of her memoir, The Woman in Me, published Tuesday by People .

Its become an iconic moment in VMAs history, but it was even more terrifying than it appeared, she continues. All I knew was to look down, because I felt if I looked up and caught its eye, it would kill me.

Despite a surprise appearance by Michael Jackson , Spears and her seemingly effortless snake-charming stole the show.

In my head I was saying, Just perform, just use your legs and perform, Spears, who was 19 at the time, writes in her memoir. But what nobody knows is that as I was singing, the snake brought its head right around to my face, right up to me, and started hissing.

She continues: I was thinking, Are you fucking serious right now? The fucking goddamn snakes tongue is flicking out at me. Right. Now. Finally, I got to the part where I handed it back, thank God.

The snake itself was, hilariously, named Banana.