The awards, the gossip, the glory: Whitney's wild and wonderful year

Ebony, July, 1994 by Lynn Norment

"My husband is extremely respectful of me, and you know what? If I felt Bobby was the kind of man who would commit infidelity and was not faithful to me, I would not be with him. Because I didn't get married for that. I can deal with that being single. I don't have to be married. That's crazy."

It is obvious that Whitney is feeling good as she talks freely about her husband while keeping an eye on Bobbi Kristina, who is toddling about her offices. She says she loves the fact that her husband is protective and respectful of her. And, most significantly, she says he is so "very, very romantic," sending her cards and flowers just to say he misses and loves her. "I love him more than I thought I could ever love anyone in my life," she says. "We both care about the things we cared about when we first met. We keep those things alive. Toni Braxton's mother tells me all the time: |Whitney, keep that marriage alive, like it was the first time you met him. You have to always stay on the honeymoon. Work at that.'"

When asked if she is jealous of Toni Braxton's sensational debut, Whitney says: "Oh, no. What do I have to be jealous of? God has blessed me so. If I coveted somebody else's stuff, God would take it away from me just like that." She snaps her finger to emphasize her point.

"I think it's wonderful," she says of Braxton's instant stardom. "In some ways it kind of takes the pressure off me, the weight off me. I can share it. For a while there, it was just me. And talk about being lonely at the top. Man, you're lonely up there. I certainly wouldn't want Toni to be -- but she is going to be -- subjected to a lot of media madness. But I hope she never has to deal with it at the height that I've had to deal with it. I don't wish that on anybody"

As Whitney gestures with her hands, you can't help but notice the huge 10-carat diamond wedding ring that dominates her slender left hand. She says Bobby has "great taste" in clothing and jewelry, that she usually loves what he picks out for her. She recalls how in the summer of 1991 he flew down to visit her in Florida, after insisting during their frequent telephone conversations that he had something important to discuss. After "clowning around" in the airport, they got into his car, where Bobby fumbled around in his pockets, complaining of being nervous, before finally pulling out a box containing a small gold ring with a tiny diamond. "It was really cute," Whitney recalls. "I was like, |I'm in love with this man and he's going to ask me to marry him. I don't care about the ring.'"

Before she could compose herself, Bobby did verbalize those four memorable words, and she said "yes." That's when be pulled out the 10-carat diamond ring. "This is the real one. I just wanted to see how you would react," he told his bedazzled future bride. Says Whitney: "He played me like I was Atari. He tested my nerve. This ring blew my mind."

Exciting private moments like this one help keep their marriage alive, Whitney points out. She describes her husband as witty, humorous and a "natural actor." In fact, Bobby made a notable movie debut with a cameo role in Ghostbusters II, and he portrays a character in Mario Van Peebles' upcoming film, Black Panther. He is auditioning for other roles and hopes, like his wife, to add "actor" to his list of entertainment accomplishments.