Whitney Houston Would Be Proud of Family’s New Reality Show, Sister-In-Law Says
Published at | Updated at
Lifetime(NEW YORK) — When Whitney Houston suddenly passed, the world couldn’t have been more shocked. Still, it was the people closest to her who were the most surprised. Whitney’s sister-in-law and manager, Pat Houston, was in that fateful hotel room in Los Angeles, and now she’s letting viewers and fans into the Houston family’s life after Whitney’s death on Lifetime’s new docu-series, The Houstons: On Our Own, premiering tonight, Wednesday, on Lifetime.
Pat tells ABC News Radio that the family’s decision to do a reality show wasn’t a new concept. In fact, Pat says that she, along with her husband Gary, daughter Rayah, Whitney’s daughter Bobbi Kristina and Whitney herself, were all featured in a pilot reality show called Power Brokers that was never picked up by a TV network.
“She would be very proud of the continuation, of not stopping and just continuing to live, but still honor her,” Pat says. “Whitney and I had a relationship that was just remarkable. And when I think about her and what she would want…She always said, ‘You can do it. You know what to do.’ And that’s all I need to hear.”
Some fans think the show is too much too soon for the family, especially since it appears to focus on 19-year-old Bobbi Kristina; in the show’s trailer, she can be seen drinking and throwing up. But Pat argues that the show has helped them grow closer, and it’s also helped them take their minds off the pain of losing Whitney.
“For me, staying busy was extremely important, but also to make sure that everyone else was okay and not be in isolation,” Pat says of filming a reality series just three months after Whitney’s passing. “Because being in isolation you start to think many things. It could just keep you down.”
As the executor of Whitney Houston’s estate, there is plenty keeping Pat busy now. One important task is helping to nurture Bobbi Kristina, who she lovingly calls Krissy. That task, she says, is the ultimate challenge.
“It’s more of a challenge because she is Whitney’s daughter, which means everyone has an opinion about the decisions you make as it relates to Krissy,” she explains. One example: the Internet blew up when the trailer for the series showed Bobbi Kristina announcing her engagement to her godbrother-turned-boyfriend, Nick Gordon. “Well, you have to understand that that was shot months ago,” Pat says of that scene. “You just have to watch the show. Things develop. Things change.”
To find out if Bobbi Kristina is really engaged, and to see how the rest of the Houston family copes without Whitney, tune into The Houstons: On Our Own at 9 p.m. on Lifetime.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio