Whitney’s secret lover
Singer was 16 when summer romance with woman began
WHITNEY Houston had an intense lesbian relationship at summer camp when she was 16 years old, her former lover has revealed.
Robyn Crawford has broken her silence after decades of rumours about her relationship with Whitney to confirm they were lovers.
In her book, A Song for You: My Life with Whitney Houston, published seven years after the star’s death, Robyn recalls how she was 19 when she first met Whitney in 1980.
They were counsellors at a New Jersey summer camp and their friendship quickly turned romantic.
Robyn recalls telling Whitney: “I’m going to look out for you.” And that is what she did for the next two decades as Whitney’s friend and assistant.
Recalling how they first became physical, she said: “It was during that first summer that we met.
“It was the first time our lips touched. And it wasn’t anything planned, it just happened. And it felt wonderful. And then not long after that, we spent the night together.
“And that evening was the night that we touched. And that just brought us closer.”
Robyn told America’s Dateline TV show: “Whitney just came into my life all of a sudden.
“I didn’t know how long it was going to last. I was just enjoying the moment. And that’s what we did. We just enjoyed it.”
But Whitney ended the physical
ROBYN CRAWFORD ON ROMANCE WITH WHITNEY
Robyn tells of romance
side of their relationship after about two years, soon after she signed a record deal with Clive Davis at Arista.
The singer broke the news by giving Robyn a gift of a Bible one day in 1982.
Robyn said: “She said we shouldn’t be physical... because it would make our journey even more difficult. She said if people find out about us, they would use it against us and back in the 1980s that’s how it felt. I kept it safe. I found comfort in my silence.”
Whitney’s mother, gospel singer Cissy Houston, was concerned about their close bond. Robyn said: “Whitney told me her mother said it wasn’t natural for two women to be that close, but we were that close. We never talked about labels, like lesbian or gay. We just lived our lives, and I hoped it could go on that way forever.”
In her book, Robyn claims actor Eddie Murphy tried to halt Whitney’s wedding to Bobby Brown.
She said Whitney had tried to pursue a romance with the actor back in 1989, but he was “elusive”. He even stood Whitney up when she invited
Whitney, Bobby, Cissy & Robyn in 1994
him to her home for a dinner date. Robyn said: “She was wearing a black dress and low-heeled slingbacks. For a moment, I thought ‘Boy, I wish she was doing that for me’.”
But Whitney, who had a huge hit with 1992 movie The Bodyguard, was left heartbroken when Eddie “never showed up that night”. She went on to get engaged to singer Bobby
She said if people found out they would use it against us