Paris Hilton: Britney's a `great mother'

Paris Hilton at Paris Hilton Private Dinner at Turning Leaf Lounge During Sundance [Agencies]

Paris Hilton is rooting for Britney Spears.

"I wish the best for her and I just wish everyone would leave her alone so she could live her life," the 26-year-old hotel heiress-actress tells E! News. "She's a great mother and a great girl and I really care about her."

In an interview that was to air Tuesday night, Hilton says: "She's a very sweet girl and I love her to death."

Hilton and Spears were nearly inseparable following the pop star's split from ex-husband Kevin Federline.

The tabloid magnets were photographed partying, shopping and driving in a car with Lindsay Lohan in the weeks after Spears filed for divorce from Federline in November 2006. But their whirlwind public friendship seemed to fizzle out after Spears' fans complained that Hilton was a negative influence.