Yesterday, Mariah Carey appeared on Good Morning America to talk about her new initiative – promoting heart health with the American Heart Association – but did reflect a bit on the loss of her friend, Whitney Houston, her husband and children.

Saying she was “almost incapable” of still discussing Whitney’s death, Mariah said the two had a much closer relationship than many imagined. She explained: “I don’t think people could ever understand our relationship. There was always this supposed rivalry in the beginning and then we did the duet and became friends.  I saw her towards the end.  I loved her.  It’s very heavy emotionally.”

As for her hubby, Nick Cannon, Mariah noted, “We didn’t know how big a deal it was at that moment,” Carey said of Cannon’s hospitalization in January.  “It was a gradual thing. We ended up in a couple hospitals this year already.”

Mariah said she was happy that Nick quit his radio show last week and added that Nick will be making other changes in his life.

“The thing is, he’s a young healthy person.  It’s about changing the lifestyle … and just an awareness of what can really happen to you no matter how young or in great shape you are,” she said.  “I think, like he always does, he’s going to turn something that happened into a positive thing.”

When a viewer asked Mimi about motherhood, focused on her well-documented pregnancy. Mariah said: “When you carry twins, that is a whole other thing so, physically, I went through it. I had never dealt with a physical thing like that.” She revealed that she has help – two nannies – but is still very involved, quipping that more times than not it’s her up in the middle of the night tending to her twin boy and girl.

Lastly, on what she and Nick have learned from their health troubles:  “I think now more than ever people need to focus on the health aspect of just life. … I’m still reaching for my goals, trying to get there.”

– Michael Arceneaux

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