By Debbie Emery - Breaking Celebrity News Reporter

Could Whitney Houston have been the next X Factor judge? Yes!

Before her tragic death nine days ago, the 48-year-old singer expressed interest in the reality TV role, and the two remaining stars of the show revealed on Tuesday that the diva would definitely have been a frontrunner if she was still alive.

“We love Whitney and we would have certainly considered it,” said L.A. Reid in conference call with the media, but added that negotiations were very much in the initial phase when Houston passed away at the Beverly Hilton on February 11.

“The truth is it never quite came to that, we never actually had meetings about it,” the X Factor judge explained. “We are all huge Whitney fans and we are sad about the loss but we didn’t really get that far.”

While sadly the I Will Always Love You singer will never sit in one of the two judge’s seats that are now empty since Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger were fired last month, her presence will certainly be felt for the lifetime of the show.

When asked if The X Factor will be doing a tribute to the late diva, Reid replied: “I think that is a great idea, I was going to recommend that we do a Whitney segment because her music is so amazing and so