EXCLUSIVE
WHEN Whitney Houston’s adopted son was found unresponsive in a Florida hotel room on New Year’s Day, his death was viewed as eerily familiar by her fans.
Nick Gordon had a treacle-like black substance streaming from his mouth when his body was discovered in the early hours following a heavy night of partying, according to reports.
Tragically, the 30-year-old’s sudden collapse came almost five years to the day that the star’s daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown was found face-down in a bathtub – an accident that mimicked the untimely passing of her world-famous mother.
Today, Nick’s grieving father Jon Bouler tells how his son became the third victim of Whitney’s chronic drug addiction, as he describes in vivid detail how the star’s “toxic” mansion became a golden prison for his son.
In an exclusive interview, Jon, 52, reveals: “Nick thought he had it made when he was taken in by Whitney but it turned out to be a stone cold nightmare for him.
“That big golden mansion of hers became a kind of hell.the drama and the fame caused him so much pain that he had to use drugs to cope.
“He did not know it at the time, but his life took a turn for the worse when he met Whitney. It wasn’t a blessing that he was taken under her wing and treated to all those nice things.
“It turned out to be a curse.”
Jon gave his anguished interview just before it was announced that Whitney, who was found unresponsive in a
Beverly Hills hotel bathtub in February 2012, will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The late singer is being given the honour on the 25th anniversary of the release of her first self-titled album, Whitney Houston, which went on to sell an incredible 22 million copies worldwide.
Whitney was at the height of her powers and living in the pleasant suburb of Alpharetta, Georgia, when she first met Nick in the early 2000s.
The handsome 12-year-old was rebellious but charming and had befriended the daughter, she had with then husband Bobby Brown, at the school they both attended.
Jon said: “The first Nick’s mum knew about it was when Whitney’s security turned up at her house one day having tracked Kristina there.
“They said, ‘Miss, is a young girl here?’ It turned out she was up in Nick’s room.
“After a while Whitney told Nick, ‘Please come over and stay at my house so I know where my daughter is’.”
Nick’s relationship with his mother Michelle, a hospital worker in her late 40s who now lives in Hawaii, became increasingly fraught as he entered his teenage years.
Unemployed Jon, who separated from Michelle before their son was born, explains: “She married a child psychologist but even he could not cope with Nick. It was typical teenager stuff – slamming doors and refusing to tidy his room. Michelle said he was out of control.
“When Nick was about 16, his mum decided to move to Florida and he refused to go.whitney said,
‘He can stay with me. I will look after him’.that was the moment his life changed.”
Whitney put Nick on the payroll, appointing him as a security guard despite his tender age.this gave him an income his hard-working mother could only dream of and the opportunity to travel the world as Whitney went on tour.
Jon, who lives in Toledo, Ohio, said: “Nick had never seen a mansion like that before. He had never seen that millionaire lifestyle before or been driven around in top-of-the-range BMWS. He was getting spoiled.
“But he could listen to a grown-up talk for hours and Whitney liked that about him. Over time she became
like a second mom and even called him, ‘My son from God’.
“That is why he was called her adopted son. But she never officially adopted him. I spoke to Whitney on the phone once and she told me, ‘Your son is in good hands, I am taking care of him’. It was all b ******* .’”
Nick had a bitter falling out with Bobby Brown at around the same time Whitney divorced her husband of 15 years.
He also began a secret relationship
‘The big golden mansion became a kind of hell’
with her daughter Bobbi Kristina, who was three years younger than him. Other things were also being hidden in their sprawling mansion.
“Whitney would be upstairs doing her drugs and the kids would be downstairs doing theirs,” says Jon. “Everyone was getting high and hiding it from each other.”
Whitney’s use of cocaine and prescription drugs like the anti-anxiety pill Xanax got so bad that her bodyguards were constantly on edge.
Jon said: “They had a rule forwhitney: she was not allowed to be alone in the bath for more than 15 minutes.
“She was doing so many drugs, it