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Cape Town – With the release of her tell-all book, A Song For You, Robyn Crawford appeared on Red Table Talk on Monday detailing her decades-long relationship with Whitney Houston.
"We were intimate on all levels," she revealed to Jada Pinkett Smith in the interview that left the Set It Off actress in tears.
Robyn spoke about her relationship with Whitney, her altercations with Bobby and the reason she needed to distance herself from the I Will Always Love You singer. She also details her final call from her – and the moment she knew it was all over.
Here are five things we learned from her explosive interview on Red Table Talk:
1. WHITNEY AND ROBYN HAD A PHYSICAL RELATIONSHIP
Whitney was 16 when she met Robyn who was 19 years old at the time at their community centre. They were both summer counsellors. They were immediately drawn to one another and soon entered into a sexual relationship that lasted two years.
"One day after camp, we were just talking. There was something there that made us connect. One moment we both just met, and, you know, our mouths touched, and that was our first kiss," she recalled. "It was awesome."
2. WHITNEY'S MOM DIDN'T APPROVE
Robyn says she and Whitney weren't hiding their love, but Whitney's mom didn't approve. Inevitably, Whitney ended her physical relationship with Robyn which she explained may have had to do with her mom's "bitterness" towards her, but also Whitney's choice to put her career first in a time that wasn't as accepting of their relationship.
3. THEIR RELATIONSHIP CONTINUED LONG AFTER THEY BROKE UP
Robyn explained to Jada that Whitney told her to love her "unconditional". "She was worth that," Robyn said, so she stuck around, even if she could only appear to be a close friend of the singer.
"A lot of people have a difficult time understanding relationships of that manner because everybody thinks the highest grade of relating is romantic and sexual and it's not," Jada added. "Those components aren't everything."
4. ROBYN STOOD BY WHITNEY THROUGHOUT HER TUMULTUOUS RELATIONSHIP WITH BOBBY BROWN
Whitney Houston went on to marry R&B singer and rapper Bobby Brown in 1992. Though their relationship was rocky – Robyn recalls many moments in which she confronted Whitney about gashes on her face and fights that erupted in front of her – she stood by the singer as her maid of honour when the couple said I do, and throughout their tumultuous marriage to one another.
"If that's what she wanted, I would be there for her," Robyn said. "I wanted Whitney to have the life that she wanted for herself. I hoped that it would be fruitful for her."
Still, Robyn felt she should support her friend who loved this man despite hearing about his reputation. "It's not right to stand by someone and then think ill of it," she said.
5. ROBYN DIDN'T LEAVE BECAUSE OF BOBBY
Robyn didn't always get along with Bobby – there were numerous reports about the two and their disagreements – but he wasn't the reason she decided to walk away.
"I was at a breaking point," Robyn explained and said it was everything going on and the stress of it all that made her leave. "The situation was out of control," she continued, "I felt like I'd done all that I could do."
Robyn goes on to say that she didn't really think she was saying goodbye to Whitney until she received a phone call from her in which she heard her say her name – just her name – but in a way that certainly got her attention.
"I feel like I was waiting for her, and she was waiting for me," Robyn says of their time apart, "Time just don't wait."
WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE:
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