Charlie Ebersol credits his past for preparing him to date Britney Spears.

The entrepreneur opened up about the 'Toxic' hitmaker - who he confirmed he was dating at the beginning of November - by saying his difficult school life has made him appreciate the star with her ''enormous heart''.

He said: ''My personal life is my personal life, but I will say this: If I had not gone through what I've gone through, I would not have been prepared to be in a relationship of any kind, much less in one with someone like Britney, who has the enormous heart that she does,

The 31-year-old hunk recalled his troublesome younger years in school when he was teased for his success, explaining how it made him feel like he didn't deserve to be loved by a potential suitor.

He explained: ''I was bullied very badly in high school

''I was a very successful kid. I sold my first company at a young age. There was a lot of misplaced rage in high school towards me. My brothers and sisters identified it as bullying, but I didn't at the time. What was amazing to me was I started feeling I wasn't worthy of being loved...I ended up blocking this from my memory.''

Charlie - who is the son of 'Saturday Night Live' co-creator Dick Ebersol and actress Susan Saint James - was speaking to promote his fourth 'NFL Characters United' documentary which shows NFL stars revealing personal stories of overcoming prejudice and bullying, and said he hopes the programme inspires people to embrace themselves.

He told People magazine: ''I can't imagine. Everybody deserves to be loved. My hope is that lesson shines forth in this documentary, and in life.''