Whitney Houston - Houston Cleans Up After Secret Trip To Los Angeles

Troubled soul star WHITNEY HOUSTON has turned her back on drugs and is now aiming to literally clean up her messy life, according to the singer's best friend CHERELLE. The former R+B star has revealed she and Houston recently took up an invitation from the diva's friends DENZEL WASHINGTON and MEL GIBSON to hide out in Los Angeles, visiting churches in disguise. Cherelle tells urban magazine Sister 2 Sister the trip afforded Houston the chance to go "straight detox" after confessing she had drug abuse problems, and the quality time allowed her longtime friend to talk some sense into her. Cherelle admits Houston was upset by recent tabloid claims about her drug habit made by sister-in-law TINA BROWN, that were accompanied by photographs of the singer's reported squalid drug den. Houston's pal claims some of the allegations Brown made were true, but the picture was nothing more than a shot of a messy bathroom. Cherelle says, "I told Nippy (Houston's nickname), I was being honest with her: 'Some of the things (Tina) did say in there (article) were true - not true in a drug form, but yes, you are sloppy! Yes, you are messy - not only in the bathroom, but period.'" Cherelle goes on to explain that Houston's inability to keep a tidy home comes from years of having aides to fetch and carry everything for her. She adds, "She was just 18-years-old when she had a hit record... It's out of habit, her dropping stuff down. Now I'm like, 'You're 43-years-old, n**ger. Pick that up! I'm not picking up behind you.'"