Whitney Houston appears to have rid herself of hubby Bobby Brown. Whether he gets back into the house may depend on hip-hop temptress Karrine Steffans.
Houston's friends have long blamed Brown for her woefully heavy eyelids. So they're praying she has the strength to change the locks. . .

Lately, she's been seen around L.A. with him. So what's up with them? "It's a really tricky situation," she told us this week, as she test-drove a Mercedes SLK 280. "He is my dearest friend. But I'm not saying it's romantic. We won't know what it is till we're ready.

"There's a wife and children involved," the single mom went on. "I don't want to wreck any marriages. But if a marriage is already wrecked, that's not my fault." So she and Bobby have been intimate? "It's none of your business," she scolded. "I'm still celibate. And if you believe that, I'll tell you another one."

"Look," she said, shifting the Benz into a higher gear, "there are way bigger things in the works than a romance. I'm a businesswoman. Bobby and I are working together on some things."

Somebody told online gossip Janet Charleton that Karrine is "using Bobby because she wants her own reality show.""Please," she said. "You think I need Bobby Brown to get a reality show? I've turned down four reality shows." (continue)