Whitney Houston's former bodyguard was tempted to "give up everything" to become the singer's lover. The troubled singer died of a drug overdose in 2012 at the age of 48 and her former minder David Roberts, 73, on whom the 1992 movie The Bodyguard is loosely based, has now opened up about how he grew so close to the star while protecting her he considered crossing the line from her protector to romantic partner.
Welsh-born David, who was Whitney's bodyguard from 1988 to 1995, opened up about being tempted to "give up everything" to change the nature of their relationship: "If you cross that line, you lose your objectivity, and that makes it dangerous for the person you're protecting. That was why Frank Farmer (Kevin Costner's character in The Bodyguard) and Rachel Marron (Whitney’s role in the film) couldn't be together.".
"He crossed the line and that was the end of him in the capacity of what he was employed to do.Much of what was contained in the film, she and I actually lived through," he told the Daily Mail. David, who now lives in Florida, was speaking ahead of the publication of his memoir Protecting Whitney set to be released in January 2025.
He also revealed he still has a note that Houston wrote him more than 35 years ago, adding: "It was a Post-it note and she pushed it under the door of my room at the Regency Hotel in Hong Kong in 1988. I still have it – it’s rather faded with time but still precious to me.".
David confessed to The Guardian in 2017. Initially, he was reluctant to take on the job of guarding Whitney, assuming she would be a high-maintenance celebrity client. However, his perception of the singer changed dramatically upon meeting her. He said: "I was singularly impressed by her.
