Bodyguard Exposes Truth Behind Oprahs Stage Fall

's bodyguard Ray Watson sprang to the late singer's defense over the time she fell off the stage at The Show.

Winfrey, 72, alleged in a recent interview that Houston had relapsed into addiction when she tumbled over in the middle of her 2009 performance on the TV series.

The daytime icon claimed to have persuaded her live audience not to leak footage of the incident in order to protect Houston's career.

Houston was 48 when she drowned in the bath with cocaine in her system in her suite at the Beverly Hilton ahead of the 2012 Awards.

However her security man, who found her body, has now insisted she was not under the influence when she plummeted from Winfrey's stage - a mishap he witnessed.

Watson attributed the accident to a visibility problem resulting from a 'dark spot' at the edge of a stage unfamiliar to Houston, via TMZ. 

In his version of events, Houston 'was coming toward the front of the stage and it's the drop-off and there's sort of like a dark spot there. So when she got to the edge I think somebody told her: "What? Be careful! Watch it!" And then she went down.'

Houston 'made fun' of the tumble and was 'laughing' afterwards, saying: 'I didn't even see that!' according to her bodyguard.

Before her untimely death, Houston (pictured in 1999) had been to rehab at least three times - in 2004, 2005 and 2011 - but struggled to stay sober