Since her stunning appearance on UK TV show Britain’s Got Talent in April, Susan Boyle has risen from obscurity to become one of the most famous women on the planet.
In a week that has seen her topping CD charts around the world with huge sales from her debut album I Dreamed A Dream, the fragile 48-year-old singer – who lives alone with her cat Pebbles and suffers from a learning disability after being deprived of oxygen during birth – has been subject to new concerns about her wellbeing.
Amid reports of bizarre behaviour, including claims she last week returned to her Scottish village with an American accent – we reveal, in her own words, Susan’s side of the story.
January 21, 2009: BGT Audition – I will never forget that day. A lot of people dream about being on television, about making records, about entertaining people. You chance your arm and see how far you can get.
But to be honest I never thought for a minute that I would get this far. The audition was at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow. I could see the place but I kept on taking the wrong bus. I must have changed buses about six times to get to the damn place.
I got there hours early and sat in the holding room watching everybody do their audition one by one. Everybody kept saying to me, “Are you sure you should be at this audition?”. I saw dance groups come and go, men with spoons, dogs. Eventually it was my turn, I got three yeses.
April 11, 2009: My big TV debut – The day my audition was aired on TV and the day my life changed forever. I was sitting at home watching the show alone.
I came onto the telly and I heard lots of shouting outside my window. When I opened the front door my neighbours were outside my house jumping for joy. We ended up having a bit of a street party. It was special.
May 2009: Becoming a star – The hype that went on I didn’t really get – strangers writing to me every day, everyone was really nice to me.
Blackburn became kind of manic. In some ways it was funny. The neighbourhood turned out to be a very good community. People I’d never spoken to in my life before would offer to do my shopping for me.
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