Whitney Houston on Celebrity Big Brother

Whitney Houston is to appear in Celebrity Big Brother when it makes its ­comeback next year.

The soul superstar is the first contestant lined up by Channel 4.

Producers are moving “Heaven and Earth” to get an A-List cast of celebs for the show, which is due back in early January due to popular demand.

They are hoping that Whitney, 45, will be TV gold.

The singer wants to use her appearance on the show to help launch her own comeback after being hit by a series of personal problems in recent years.

Whitney was one of the world’s most successful artists having scored global hits in the 1980s and 1990s including I Will Always Love You, One Moment In Time and I Wanna Dance With Somebody.

But her career and popularity began to hit the skids in the late 90s over her rocky marriage to R&B star Bobby Brown, 39, which ended in divorce two years ago.

And after a few public appearances showing her in a shocking state, reports emerged that she was hooked on drugs and suffering from anorexia and bulimia.

She was twice admitted to rehab centres – in 2005 and 2006.

Now Whitney claims she has cleaned up her act and she is to launch a major comeback in the charts around Christmas.

It will coincide with her appearance on Celebrity Big Brother.

A show source said: “We’re aiming high for the new series. We want top-notch stars not Z-Listers. And trust us, we’ll be back with a bang in 2009.”

Celebrity Big Brother bosses decided not to stage the show this year after the race row between Jade Goody, 27, and Shilpa Shetty, 33, dogged the series in 2007.

In its place this year they broadcast an experimental show called Big Brother Celebrity Hijack on the digital station E4.

The series failed to draw huge ratings and critics slammed it as a flop.

Via dailystar.co.uk