Mel reaches out to Britney

The Braveheart star has whisked the singer away to his house in Costa Rica for a relaxing few days away.

The unlikely pals, whose families have met on several occasions, will reportedly return to Los Angeles, California, early next week.

"They're just going away for a few days to relax," a source told a US magazine.

Britney and Mel met at a private LA airport on Thursday morning and boarded a private jet to the Central American state.

The actor bought his 400-acre ranch in Costa Rica in April last year, for $26 million.

The pop princess's father Jamie and Mel's wife Robyn are accompanying them on the trip, but Britney's children cannot leave the country without special approval so are staying at home.

Mel, 52, and Britney, 26, used to live in the same gated community in Malibu, California, and met a number of times after the singer was hospitalized in February.

They were first spotted together in public in March, when they dined at Russian restaurant Romanov in Studio City.

"Mel and his wife Robyn clearly saw a woman in crisis and wanted to extend themselves in any way possible," the source added.

"There are no expectations, there is no agenda.

"It's a simple act of human kindness - one neighbour reaching out to the other."

Britney is not the first troubled celebrity to have been helped by Mel.

The Apocalypto star once showed up at a Beverly Hills hotel and helped persuade Courtney Love to go to rehab.