Naomi Ackie, who plays Whitney Houston in an upcoming biopic, says the star could've been pansexual: 'Love is Love.'

• British actor Naomi Ackie is set to play Whitney Houston in the pop singer's upcoming biopic.
• "Whitney Houston: I Want To Dance With Somebody" hits theatres on December 23.

After playing Whitney Houston in an upcoming biopic, Naomi Ackie said she wonders if the late pop singer was pansexual.

The British actor is set to portray Houston in "Whitney Houston: I Want To Dance With Somebody," a film that tells the story of her rise to global fame. The movie's release comes just over a decade after Houston's death. According to ABC News, the world-famous R&B singer-songwriter died from an accidental drowning at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills, California.

In a recent interview with Laura Pullman for The Sunday Times, Ackie reflected on what she learned about Houston as a person after filming wrapped. Pullman wrote that Ackie wondered if the singer was pansexual, referencing the relationship she had with her assistant Robyn Crawford in the early 1980s. Pansexuality is defined as a "sexual or romantic attraction that is not limited to people of a particular gender identity or sexual orientation," according to Merriam-Webster.

"There's something about her that was very free in that and quite modern, given the time she was in," Ackie said. "That's something I feel. I don't know who I'll end up with."

"I think that [part of Houston's life] was actually probably easier for me to understand than some of the other things that she was going through because, you know, love is love," she added.

Houston never addressed speculation about her relationship with her assistant when she was alive. However, Crawford confirmed the pair had a physical romantic relationship when they first met in 1980, Insider previously reported. At the time, Houston and Crawford were both working as summer camp counselors in New Jersey.

Crawford opened up about their relationship in her 2019 memoir "A Song For You: My Life With Whitney Houston" and during a subsequent interview with NBC News in November of that year.

"In the early part of that friendship, it was physical," she told the outlet. "It was during that first summer that we met, was the first time our lips touched. And it wasn't anything planned, it just happened. And it felt wonderful."

"Not long after that, we spent the night together," Crawford added. "That evening was the night that we touched. And that just brought us closer together."

Crawford wrote in her memoir that they never discussed labels such as gay or lesbian: "We just lived our lives and I hope it could go on that way forever."

However, Houston ended the physical side of their relationship shortly after, apparently out of fear that it could affect both of their lives. Their closeness spawned relentless speculation about Houston's sexuality over the years.

"She said that if people find out about us, they would use this against us, and back in the Eighties that's how it felt," Crawford said.

Houston went on to marry R&B star Bobby Brown in 1992. The pair eventually divorced in 2006.

Two years later, Brown wrote in his autobiography "Every Little Step: My Story" that they got married "for all the wrong reasons." He said he felt Houston wanted to kill the scrutiny around her personal life.

"The media was accusing her of having a bisexual relationship with her assistant [Crawford]," he wrote. "In Whitney's situation, the only solution was to get married and have kids. That would kill all speculation, whether it was true or not."