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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDavid Roberts, a former police officer who says he protected Whitney Houston from 1988 to 1995, told the Daily Mail in a December 2024 interview that he was once tempted to leave his professional role for a personal relationship with her. The moment came after Houston rested her head on his shoulder. Roberts says he did not act on the impulse, because a protector who crosses that line loses the objectivity the job depends on. The account is his own recollection as reported in the press. It describes a temptation, not a romance.
What Roberts says happened
The reported phrase at the center of the story is that Roberts was tempted to “give up everything.” In the interview, that meant turning a working relationship into a personal one. The trigger he describes was physical and intimate in a small way: Houston resting her head on his shoulder. Roberts is clear that nothing developed beyond that feeling. He says there was no real-life romance.
Why he says he held the line
Roberts’s explanation is professional rather than sentimental. In his words:
“If you cross that line, you lose your objectivity and that makes it dangerous for the person you’re protecting.”
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In close protection, the bodyguard’s job is to assess risk, read crowds and make fast decisions about the principal’s safety. Roberts’s argument is that a personal attachment would compromise exactly that judgment, and the cost would fall on the person he was paid to keep safe. That reasoning, rather than any claim about his feelings, is the most substantive point in the interview.
The timeline and where it does not fully line up
Roberts places his work with Houston between 1988 and 1995. The interview also says he first met her when she was 23. Houston was born in 1963, so a first meeting at 23 would fall around 1986 or 1987, a year or more before the 1988 start of his service as described. The reporting does not reconcile the two dates. Read the timeline as Roberts’s account, not a set of verified employment dates.
The figures in the report, and how to read them
The interview contains several numbers. None has been independently checked in the coverage available, so each should be read as Roberts’s reported detail.
| Figure | What it refers to | How it is attributed |
|---|---|---|
| 1988–1995 | The period Roberts says he protected Houston | Roberts’s account, as reported in the December 2024 interview; see the timeline note above |
| 73 | Roberts’s age at the time of the report | Stated in the December 2024 interview |
| 23 | Houston’s age when Roberts says he first met her | Roberts’s account; does not match the 1988 start date without a gap |
| 24 | Would-be trespassers Roberts says tried to scale the fence at Houston’s wedding | Roberts’s own count; not independently verified |
| 48 | Houston’s age at death, in 2012 | Stated in the report |
The Bodyguard comparison
Roberts also compares his experience to the 1992 film The Bodyguard, in which Houston starred as Rachel Marron. He said:
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His example is Rachel Marron holding on to the back of a protector’s shirt to escape crowds of fans. Roberts presents these as parallels from his own experience. The reporting does not show that the film was based on his life, and it should not be read that way.
Temptation or romance: what the claim does and does not say
- Claimed: Roberts felt a pull toward a personal relationship with Houston after a moment of physical closeness, and he considered giving up his professional role.
- Not claimed: that a relationship took place, or that Houston reciprocated the feeling in any reported detail.
- Unverified: the private moment itself, the dates of his service and the specific anecdotes, all of which rest on Roberts’s recollection.
How the coverage relates to the original interview
Most of the material circulating online traces back to one Daily Mail interview by Barbara McMahon, published December 27, 2024 and timed to the publication of Roberts’s memoir. Other pages repeat it, so they add reach but not independent confirmation.
| Source | Date | What it provides | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Mail interview by Barbara McMahon | December 27, 2024 | The fullest version of Roberts’s account, including the quotations above | The original page was not directly accessed; the text was read in a reproduction |
| Classic Whitney forum post | 2024 | A reproduction of the Daily Mail article text | A reproduction, not the original publisher |
| WBLS recap | December 30, 2024 | Repeats the central claim and the boundary explanation | Draws on the Daily Mail interview; not separate reporting |
| People summary on Yahoo | not stated | A short summary of the story | Direct access was unavailable, so it is not used for details |
About the memoir
The interview was tied to Roberts’s memoir, Protecting Whitney: The Memoir of Her Bodyguard, which is the fuller source for his account. The reporting available here does not confirm the memoir’s current edition, availability or price, so check a retailer before buying.
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