Whitney Houston 'Felt Caged Because of Her Success,' BeBe Winans Says: She 'Had Such a Big Heart' (Exclusive)

Winans described the late music icon as "beyond a sister" in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE

Whitney Houston had a hard time dealing with her fame, according to BeBe Winans.

While chatting with PEOPLE at the It's A Wonderful Lifetime Yuletide Event at E.P. & L.P. Rooftop in West Hollywood, Calif., the gospel artist, 62, recalled how the late music icon often felt held back by her worldwide success.

"She was a sister, and beyond a sister," Winans said. "She was someone who had such a big heart and loved people and wanted to help people, but sometimes felt caged because of her success and her fame."

Detailing that Houston "wanted to walk in malls" and "do everything that regular working people do," the artist said that his late friend "sometimes ran away ... and her hideaway was our house in Nashville, Tennessee."

"We'd get a phone call just saying, 'Is she there? Don't tell her we called,' and I'd say, 'Yes, she's here. She's on my couch asleep,' " Winans added. "That was the kind of person people didn't get a chance to see. That was the Whitney that we knew and miss terribly."

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Related: Remembering Whitney Houston's Remarkable Life in Photos

Winans and the "How Will I Know" singer had a long-lasting friendship. The Detroit native wrote about time spent over the years with Houston — who died in February 2012 at age 48 — in his book The Whitney I Knew.

Recalling a fond memory shared with Houston, Winans told PEOPLE, "I remember years ago when she came to a house I was about to buy ... she came there knowing she had something in her purse that was going to allow me to buy the house, because the banks had rejected my down payment because they felt like I was a risk. And she found out about it."

The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!

Detailing that Houston "flew in" to tour the home with him, Winans continued, "On the back porch, she said, 'This looks like my brother's house,' and I was like, 'You said that about every room we went in,' and then she reached in her pocket and she put out an envelope, and she gave it to me and in it was $50,000 to pay for what the bank had put on me."

"When I paid her back, she called and said, 'You paid me back?' and I said, 'I told you I was.' She said, 'A lot of people say that!' That was Whitney," he added.

Winans currently stars in Lifetime's BeBe Winans' We Three Kings, which premieres on Saturday, Nov. 30 at 8 p.m. EST.