Whitney Houston: 'Akon is a gentleman'

Whitney Houston has admitted that Akon was "a gentleman" when the pair teamed up for the track 'Like I Never Left'.

The singer revealed that at first she was sceptical about working alongside the R&B star for her upcoming I Look To You LP.

She told MTV: "When Clive [Davis] told me I would be working with Akon, I thought, 'Hmm, interesting, um, alright'. I was asking him, 'Did your mother name you Akon?' And he said, 'No, it means a convict'. And I thought, 'Oh, God. OK, alright, I can handle that'."

She added: "He's a gentleman. He did his work very well. We did it very quickly, very diligently, and I'm very proud of that record. It's a great record."

The Grammy Award-winner recently said that the new album is inspired by her personal struggles since the release of her last record in 2002.

Houston is to release I Look To You on September 1.