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Whitney Houston turned down The Cosby Show

Feb 15, 2012, 6:02 GMT

Whitney Houston

What was TV's loss became the music world's gain.

It has been revealed that Whitney Houston had a chance to star on the award-winning sitcom The Cosby Show, but declined the opportunity for fear of jeopardizing her music career.

The DailyMailOnline.com reports that the late Diva was offered the part of Cosby's eldest daughter, Sondra Huxtable.

However, the show's director Jay Sandrich recalls, that when it came to putting ink to paper the multiple Grammy-winning artist proved reluctant.

He said: 'So we gather in this room and there are kids from New York and Los Angeles and they are all signing their contracts, and this girl who we brought from New York said, 'I can't sign this contract.''

Sandrich asked why not, and recalls that Whitney replied: 'Well, I want to be a singer ... I can't be in every show ... I have to be in every tour.'

When Sandrich asked if she had a recording contract, or a tour scheduled, Houston replied: 'No.'

He then said: 'Well, who told you that you can sing?'

Whitney told him: 'My mother, my aunt.'

He pointed out the advantages of appearing on the show, but she didn't buy it.

Sabrina La Beauf then went on to play the part for the entire eight seasons of the show, which became a 80s hit, and the third longest-running comedy series in American TV history.

A year after the show aired in 1984, Whitney's self-titled debut album reached number one in the Billboard charts, selling over 13 million albums.

Whitney Houston was found dead in the bathtub of the Beverly Hills' hotel suite on Saturday (11.02.12). A preliminary autopsy revealed that the troubled star had sedatives in her system.

Her funeral will take place on Saturday (18.02.12), at an invitation-only service at New Hope Baptist Church, in Newark, New Jersey.