NICOLE RICHIE – who’s starring in the new reality show “Fashion Star” – will forever be grateful to her father LIONEL RICHIE for saving her from the same tragic fate as WHITNEY HOUSTON.
Adopted by the legendary singer and his ex-wife Brenda when she was a toddler, Nicole struggled with drug and alcohol addictions – as well as an eating disorder – throughout her teens and early 20s.
After a 2003 arrest for heroin possession, Lionel canceled a tour and immediately chartered a private plane to whisk Nicole to the Sierra Tucson rehab facility in Arizona.
Lionel had been a close friend of superstar Whitney, who died Feb. 11, reportedly from a mixture of prescription pills and alcohol. As Nicole eagerly awaited the March 13 debut of NBC’s “Fashion Star” – in which she acts as a mentor to wannabe fashion designers – her proud dad opened up about his fight to save her.
“I was about to go out on tour and I said, ‘Cancel the tour, we are checking into rehab’… I remember that look on her face when she walked down that hall (of the rehab facility) and said, ‘Are you going to be here?’
“I said, ‘I’m right down the hall. I’m not going anywhere.’”
Nicole continued to struggle, but Lionel stood by her.
“Lionel went that extra mile for Nicole and that’s what saved her life,” said a source. “Nicole shed a lot of tears for Whitney and told her dad, ‘There but for the grace of God – and you.’”
Now 30, Nicoleis married to Good Charlotte rocker Joel Madden and has two kids, daughter Harlow, 4, and son Sparrow, 2. She’s also created her own design label. On “Fashion Star” she co-stars with Jessica Simpson and Elle Macpherson, as up and coming designers compete for a lucrative retail store contract.
“Nicole would have met the same dark end as Whitney if it weren’t for her dad’s devotion,” added the source.
