Whitney Houston's X Factor mishap

Whitney Houston took to The X Factor stage tonight in a floor-length silver dress that threatened to get caught on the heels of her shoes. With a hem several inches too long, the diva, 46, had to keep hoisting the frock up to avoid falling flat on her face as she sang comeback single Million Dollar Bill.

If that wasn't bad enough, Whitney - who is promoting new album I Look To You - then had to deal with her outfit's back-fastening coming adrift and flapping about. Despite the wardrobe malfunction, she continued with her performance but seemed a little distracted when Dermot O'Leary then interviewed her on stage.
'I sang myself out of my clothes,' she told him.

Asked what she thought about the contestants, she stared into space before advising them to 'practise, practise, practise'.

Whitney, 46, was out of the spotlight for years while she battled her demons but after splitting with ex-husband Bobby Brown in 2006, she's been steadily making her comeback with the help of J Records boss Clive Davis. In an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show last month, she admitted her drug use became 'heavy' after she starred in 1992 movie The Bodyguard.

'We were lacing our marijuana with base. We weren't on crack. We weren't on no crack stuff,' Whitney recalled.

When Oprah said: 'But you were freebasing cocaine', Whitney replied, 'Basically. ... We weren't doing pipe smoking. We didn't get that far.'

I Look To You is released in the UK on 19 October.

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