Gossip

Alexandra Burke in the Frame for Bodyguard???

The Sun reports that X Factor winner and pop star Alexandra Burke has been offered the role of Rachel Marron in the planned musical adaptation of The Bodyguard – the role famously played by Whitney Houston in the 1992 film. Producer David Ian – whose most recent screen-to-stager was Flashdance, which toured extensively and then had a run this past autumn at the West End’s Shaftesbury Theatre – has secured the rights, with The Sun confirming he hopes to bring the show into the West End in time for London’s 2012 Olympics. “Alexandra is torn,” a source is quoted as telling the paper, “but she also has her second album to think about.”

The Bodyguard, which marked Houston’s acting debut, centred on the relationship between music superstar Rachel Marron (Houston) and her bodyguard Frank Farmer (Costner), a former Secret Service agent who is hired to protect her from a stalker. Houston’s anthem from The Bodyguard, “I Will Always Love You”, became the biggest-selling single ever by a female artist. As previously tipped, the musical is likely to feature additional music from the film as well as other songs from Houston’s back catalogue.