'Modern Family's Ed O'Neill unwittingly takes pic with Britney Spears, goes viral

LOS ANGELES, June 14 (UPI) -- Modern Family's Ed O'Neill happily obliged a fan at LAX while on his way to Hawaii last year, unwittingly taking a photo with Britney Spears that went viral on Twitter.

The television star admitted Monday on the Ellen that he didn't recognize the world-famous pop superstar last year when she approached him for the photo at the Los Angeles International Airport.

"She came up and said, 'Oh, Mr. O'Neill, I love Modern Family and you're my favorite on the show.' And I said, 'Well, I'm here. I'm the only one here,'" he joked, adding that the fan "couldn't have been nicer."

O'Neill received a text from his manager the very next day, letting him know he had unknowingly taken a picture with Spears and it received thousands of "likes" it when she posted it to her social media.

O'Neill, 70, didn't even muster a smile when he took the photo with the "Toxic" singer, who has over 45 million Twitter followers.