Gary Kemp reveals ‘only regret’ from working with Whitney Houston

27 January 2025, 12:37

The Spandau Ballet singer starred with the ‘I Will Always Love You’ singer in 1992’s The Bodyguard.

Gary Kemp has opened up about his experience of working alongside Whitney Houston in The Bodyguard.

The ‘Gold’ singer played Whitney’s character Rachel’s shady publicist Sy Spector in the iconic 1992 film, which also starred Kevin Costner, Bill Cobbs and Ralph Waite.

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The Bodyguard tells the story of former secret service agent Frank Farmer (Costner), who is assigned to protect acting and singing superstar Rachel Marron (Houston) after she is sent death threats by a stalker.

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Although at first reluctant to take the job, Frank grows fond of Rachel and the pair fall in love as the danger surrounding them is revealed to be more real than originally accepted.

Speaking with NME ahead of the release of his latest solo album, The Destination, Gary opened up about his experience of starring alongside Whitney after he was asked about how much he remembered about the film shoot.

“It was lovely getting to know Whitney when she was at her healthiest,” the 65-year-old reminisced.

“She was a nice person and hung out with the crew. She didn’t play the star game or scurry off to her Winnebago.”

Gary revealed he did have one regret about the film, however.

“My only regret is that they didn’t put [Spandau Ballet’s 1983 hit] ‘True’ on the soundtrack, because it made millions!” he revealed.

“When I was rehearsing with Kevin Costner, he told me that [‘True’] was he and his wife’s favourite tune.”

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In his NME interview, Gary also opened up about the potential of a Spandau Ballet reunion sometime in the future.

“I can’t say there won’t be,” he shared, but warned: “Tony [Hadley] and I aren’t in conversation right now and we’ve had our issues over the years.”

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However, he also emotionally reflected: “Do I think there will be a Spandau reunion? I hope so, because some of my children have never seen us and I’d like to do it for them. It meant so much to me.

“We soundtracked people’s lives, and to come together at least another time as the original members to play that music for those fans would be a great thing to do, so I’m open to all conversations.”

Gary's album The Destination will be released on January 31.