Houston 'wanted to be the good wife'

Oprah Winfrey has claimed that Whitney Houston intentionally played herself down to "fit" her failed marriage to Bobby Brown.

In a trailer for a two-part interview with Houston, Winfrey suggested that other women will understand the singer's actions, Music-News reports.

Winfrey said: "She talks about when it started to go wrong and it started to go wrong after The Bodyguard, that was a long time ago.

"The thing that is the most shocking to me is that Whitney Houston tried to make herself smaller in order to fit in a marriage so the man could be bigger."

She added: "How many women have done that? She's done the same thing so many women have done.

"I deeply felt for her and I actually got it. She was trying to be the good wife. She really, really, truly loved him."

Houston and Brown were married for 14 years before she filed for divorce in 2006.

Winfrey has said that her interview with Houston was the best of her career.