X Factor star in Whitney 'fracas' before death
A US X Factor star has claimed she had an altercation with Whitney Houston just hours before the singer's death. Stacy Francis, a finalist on the show, said the star's mood suddenly changed after she began chatting to Whitney's on-off toyboy boyfriend, Ray J, in a nightclub at a pre-Grammy awards party. The X Factor singer told the Daily Mirror: "She was out of control. She put her hand in my face. She was screaming at me... She just went crazy - like Jekyll and Hyde. "I turned to look at her and she pushed my forehead and turned my face away. I grabbed her hand and said, 'Please don't do this. You're everything to me. You're my idol, you're a legend.'" The singer claimed Whitney, 48, downed glasses of champagne and tequila shots before the fracas. She also told the newspaper that the star, who was found dead in her bath at the Beverly Hilton hotel, had told her she was seriously considering an offer from Simon Cowell to be a judge on the US X Factor. Meanwhile, Whitney's death will reportedly not affect the development of the Waiting To Exhale sequel. According to Elizabeth Gabler, president of Fox 2000 Pictures, the follow-up to the 1995 film is still happening. She told Vulture: "I don't think she would want it to [be cancelled]. It's almost in her honour that we think to soldier on." It is not known who would step into Whitney's shoes. The late star played TV producer Savannah Jackson in the romantic drama and contributed two songs to the accompanying soundtrack. Whitney's final film, Sparkle, is set for a summer release. In the remake of the 1976 movie of the same name, The Bodyguard actress stars as mother of three sisters in a musical group.
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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.
An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.