‘Glee’ Creator Says This Late Icon Almost Guest Starred on the Show

During its time on air, Glee had a slew of superstar guest appearances by people like Britney Spears, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Hudson, Idina Menzel, Kristin Chenoweth, Neil Patrick Harris and more.

Turns out, one icon who was also supposed to appear on the show was Whitney Houston. In a new episode of Glee stars Kevin McHale and Jenna Ushkowitz’s podcast And That’s What You Really Missed, the duo shared a conversation they had with the popular series’ creator, Ryan Murphy.

Murphy revealed that Houston initially agreed in 2009 to play the part of Grace Hitchens — a choir director at a school for female juvenile delinquents — over the phone. The season one role ended up going to Eve. “She just loved that it was about kids in choir, and she was like ‘This is phenomenal. Like, that you’re doing a show about show choir,'” he recalled of Houston’s enthusiasm for the role.

“She didn’t end up doing it, and Eve was phenomenal,” Murphy continued, noting that he didn’t think Houston “was in the right place and time” to play the role. Houston died just a few years later in 2012.

In a new Billboard cover story, Houston’s longtime manager and sister-in-law Pat discussed a string of events that aim to put the public image surrounding Whitney focused back on her voice and not the tabloid drama. Earlier this year, Pat and music publisher and marketer Primary Wave announced a partnership giving the company a 50% stake in Whitney’s assets and since then, Primary Wave says it has quadrupled the estate’s fortunes.

“With everything that’s going on right now, she’s still touching lives, and that’s what I want to do in a very positive way,” Pat told Billboard. “She should be remembered by her music and the work that she’s done in the community, not by her relationships. And the fact that all these things are happening proves that. It’s a clear path without any distractions to make things continue to happen for her legacy.”

Listen to the full conversation with Murphy and more on the latest episode of McHale and Ushkowitz’s And That’s What You Really Missed podcast below. Listen to more episodes here.