Within minutes of our meeting, Susan Boyle breaks the ice with a playful jab about Britain’s Got Talent judge Piers Morgan — or as she affectionately calls him, “Piersy Baby.” With a mischievous twinkle in her eye, she asks if I know him.
When I say yes, she springs into the famous Susan Boyle Wiggle, throwing herself onto the sofa with youthful energy.
“Ask me whatever you want,” she says.
So I ask: Do you really have a crush on Piers?
“You’ve got to admit he is dead handsome,” she gushes, going starry-eyed.
Susan, now 48 and single, was once the never-been-kissed church volunteer living alone with her cat in Blackburn, West Lothian — until her jaw-dropping rendition of “I Dreamed A Dream” turned her into an overnight sensation.
Global sensation and the heavy cost of fame
Just days after her televised audition, Susan became a global internet phenomenon. But with that fame came immense pressure.
She eventually checked herself into The Priory clinic in North London, igniting widespread media debate about the exploitation of reality TV contestants and the emotional toll of fleeting fame.
Susan’s history includes a difficult birth that caused mild learning difficulties due to lack of oxygen.
Yet, the woman sitting before me today is anything but broken.
Her debut album, I Dreamed A Dream, soared to the top of Amazon’s bestseller list three months before its release on November 23.
The transformation of Susan Boyle
Physically, Susan looks remarkably different. She’s lost weight, waxed away the “Hairy Angel” label cruelly given to her early on.
“I was fed up being called that,” she says bluntly.
“I didn’t know what I looked like on TV until I saw myself on Britain’s Got Talent. I saw this wee wifey with mad hair and bushy eyebrows and thought, ‘Hmm, not really telegenic.’”
So she transformed herself:
“When I look in the mirror now, I see this sophisticated lady. I’m still a bit like that wee wifey inside, but more refined in some ways.”
True to form, Susan pulls no punches.
“Would you want to look like the Hairy Angel? I don’t think so.”
Susan’s struggle with fame and breakdown at The Priory
This is Susan Boyle’s first in-depth interview, and she’s determined to be utterly honest.
“Everything had built up, and I was exhausted,” she admits.
“My life ceased to be normal when Britain’s Got Talent went live. There were press people, TV cameras, strangers outside my door. It was overwhelming. I thought, ‘God, what’s happening here?’”
At one point, the media attention became unbearable:
“I couldn’t even go outside. American TV crews camped outside my house. I had to draw my blinds, but they still hammered on my door.”
She had no security, only a BGT production assistant sent to stay nearby.
“I was frightened. I was vulnerable. Phone calls came 24/7, keeping me awake for three weeks until I changed my number.”
Susan notes:
“I don’t think Paul Potts ever got this level of attention. It was like being inside a pressure cooker about to explode.”
The night of the Britain’s Got Talent final
By the final, Susan was exhausted.
“Simon Cowell sent for me. He asked if I still wanted to sing that night. Of course I did — I’d waited my whole life for that moment.”
Simon reminded her:
“Remember what you said at the audition? You said you’d make the place rock. Now go out there and make it rock.”
She performed but finished second.
“I don’t remember much after. I was exhausted, couldn’t see properly, hadn’t eaten or slept for days. It was like looking through glass. Extreme exhaustion made me snap at everyone.”
Ultimately, she was taken to the Priory:
“I needed sleep. I was too tired to even think straight. I’m much stronger now, though.”
Turning disability into ability
Despite her struggles, Susan is determined:
“Lots of people with hidden disabilities audition. I don’t think they should be discouraged. I can now turn my disability into ability. I have far more talent than people realize.”
Born the youngest of nine children in Blackburn, Scotland, Susan grew up facing bullying:
“They called me Sambo because of my curly black hair and Simple Susie. It chipped away at my personality.”
Home was her safe space. Dolls became her imaginary friends until music took over as her ultimate refuge.
After leaving school with two O-levels in History and English, Susan worked in a canteen, then studied to work in the voluntary sector.
She also sang at her church, entertaining the elderly and disabled.
Love, loss, and new beginnings
Susan had a brief romance:
“I had a boyfriend, John, who proposed after seven weeks, but he got cold feet. It made me feel unattractive, but I stayed optimistic.”
In 1999, her father, Patrick, passed away at 80. Susan was devastated but stayed strong for her mother, Bridget.
Bridget depended on Susan until her own passing at age 91.
“I was her main carer for years. Watching her die was unlike anything I had ever experienced. She smiled moments before she passed — a sign she was at peace.”
Susan grieved deeply:
“After she died, I felt lonely. Music helped heal me again. Faith helped too. Her physical presence is gone, but her spirit remains with me.”
The start of the fairy tale
Shortly after her mother’s death, Susan saw Britain’s Got Talent on TV — and noticed Piers Morgan.
“I thought, ‘Hmm, nice. I like him.’ I wondered what would happen if I auditioned.”
On January 21, Susan donned a gold dress and auditioned in Glasgow.
Despite the snickers, once she sang, she stunned the audience.
After her audition aired, crowds gathered outside her home.
“That’s when it all began,” she says.
Susan’s album is now outselling Whitney Houston’s comeback, and her America’s Got Talent appearance added five million viewers.
Asked why the world loves her, Susan reflects:
“It’s a Cinderella story, isn’t it?”
And, like all great fairy tales, Susan Boyle’s story is destined for a happy ending.