Whenever Susan Boyle steps on stage, everything seems perfect. But when the music stops,
she's had to endure painful health struggles, family feuds, and frightening invasions.
Susan Boyle was born on April 1, 1961 in Blackburn, Scotland, and for the first 51
years of her life, she believed that she had brain damage after being briefly starved of
oxygen at birth. But then in 2013, doctors determined that she'd been misdiagnosed
and that she actually has a form of Autism Spectrum Disorder known as Asperger's. For
Boyle, the new diagnosis was a blessing in disguise. As she explained to The Guardian,
"I always knew it was an unfair label. Now I have a clearer understanding of
what's wrong and I feel relieved and a bit more relaxed about myself."
Boyle also sought a second opinion from a specialist in Scotland following concerns
that she had a serious illness. She hoped that the knowledge of
being neurodiverse wouldn't make any direct impact on her life but that
it might instead help others to be more accepting. As she put it,
"I think people will treat me better because they will have
a much greater understanding of who I am and why I do the things I do."
While growing up, Boyle was regularly bullied by
her classmates and beaten with a belt by teachers who had little
understanding of learning disabilities. As she explained to the Mirror in 2009,
"I was often left behind at school because of one thing or another. I was a slow learner.
I'm just a wee bit slower at picking things up than other people. So you get left behind in a
system that just wants to rush on, you know? That was what I felt was happening to me."
"I was bullied at school, yeah, because I had a slight disability, and I was a bit slow.
You know, it hasn't really scarred me that much, you know."
Boyle was also diagnosed with epilepsy, so she regularly suffered from seizures,
which gave her bullies even more ammunition. Her parents didn't know
the best way to deal with her condition, and she also believes that the medical
profession wasn't much better informed when it came to the brain disorder.
And in addition to all those struggles, Boyle's father Patrick would often take
his temper out on his daughter when she was young, and it took her a long
time to get over the trauma. As she recalled to the Daily Mail in 2016,
"I held on to this for years — and when he was dying, I had to let it go. You have to accept it,
that's maturity. It's not easy, but you have to let it go and replace it with
a new self. That's what I've been focusing on in the past six months. It's difficult.
I've a lot of good and bad memories. I've been coming to terms with it."
Boyle's mother Bridget encouraged her daughter to pursue her musical dreams,
but she sadly died in 2007, just two years before Susan became a worldwide
sensation on Britain's Got Talent. As Boyle recalled to the Mirror in 2009,
"After Mum died it didn't fully register until maybe six months after. That's when the loneliness
set in and there was nobody around except my cat Pebbles. When you lose someone as powerful as
your mum you feel as if a part of you is taken away and that does things to your confidence."
But Boyle was still able to take inspiration from her mom after she passed. Bridget had always
seen a clear path for her daughter's incredible talents, and she encouraged Susan to pursue them,
no matter how impossible success may have seemed. As she explained to the Mirror in 2010,
"I went to about 12 auditions before Britain's Got Talent. Everybody goes
through the phase when they want to give up and if I had not made
a promise to my mother then I would have, I have to be perfectly honest with you."
Considering all her success, it's easy to forget that Boyle didn't actually
win during the 2009 season of Britain's Got Talent, as she was the runner-up to
the dance troupe Diversity. Considering all the hype around her, she understandably took
it hard when she failed to reel in enough votes. Rumors emerged that she threw water
at the show's floor manager while declaring that she hated the show. Later that night,
police were called to her London hotel after staff complained that she'd been
acting strangely. She was then admitted to a mental health care facility to recuperate.
"There were times I was okay and times I wasn't okay."
There were even reports that U.K. media regulator Ofcom was considering launching
an investigation into the show's conduct. It had received complaints when producers were accused
of wilfully ignoring Boyle's clearly vulnerable state in the lead-up to the finale. And the chief
medical officer of the mental health facility told the Daily Mail that producers had failed
to fulfill their duty of care in helping Boyle cope with the newfound pressures of
fame. During an appearance on GMTV, Piers Morgan, one of the judges on the show, had this to say:
"Nobody has had to put up with the kind of attention Susan has had. [...] She
has gone from anonymity to being the most downloaded woman in history."
In 2010, Boyle suffered quite the scare when she returned home from recording a
charity single to find a teenage intruder on her stairs. She was with a friend when
she entered her West Lothian property, and fortunately an investigation determined
that nothing had been stolen. But Boyle was understandably left shaken by the incident.
A 16-year-old was later arrested for the crime but was let go by police without being charged.
Just two years later, Boyle had to deal with another intruder,
as an obsessive fan tried to follow the singer into her room in Liverpool's Hope
Street Hotel. The man in question had been waiting for her to return from her
performance in the musical I Dreamed a Dream at the city's Empire Theatre and went on to
pursue her when she ignored his pleas for an autograph. A source then told the Mirror,
"The attention she was getting from fans was a bit much, especially given what happened at her
home recently. The last thing she needed was someone trying to get into her room."
Eight years after losing her beloved mother, Boyle lived through the death of another
close family member, as her sister Bridie McCaw passed away from cancer
at the age of 73. As Susan noted to the Mirror in 2016,
"She was honest and helped me throughout my life and during my career. She wasn't
afraid to tell me I was getting too big for my boots. I miss her every day."
In 2015, Boyle had intended to record her seventh album. But she instead took
a much-needed break from the studio to spend time with her nearest and dearest,
including Bridie's daughter Joanne, who was also her aunt's personal assistant. The album,
entitled A Wonderful World, was eventually released in November of the following year.
In 2012, Boyle was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, which forced her to permanently cut her beloved
chocolate out of her diet for the sake of her long-term health. She's able to manage her
condition with medication, but during the COVID-19 pandemic, it became a serious issue once again.
"See the whole person, not just a bit of me, just the whole person."
Diabetic individuals were advised to shield themselves during pandemic lockdowns,
and in April 2021, Boyle divulged to the Edinburgh Evening News,
"I have tried to stay indoors as much as possible. Catching COVID-19
would not have been a good outcome. I was warned, so I've not taken any chances."
Boyle understandably found lockdown tough to deal with, as she admitted,
"I've had days when I've felt low or stuck in a rut,
or bored of staring at the same four walls — but everyone's been in the same boat."
After failing to settle into the house she bought after she rose to fame, Boyle decided to move back
into her lifelong family home. Unfortunately, her return wasn't appreciated by everyone in
the neighborhood, and in 2017 a group of local teenage boys soon let their feelings be known.
Boyle was reportedly chased to her doorstep, pelted with stones, and had firelit paper thrown
at her. But she wasn't going to surrender easily. In a defiant interview with The Mail on Sunday,
she made it clear that she wasn't going to let this intimidation get to her. As she declared,
"It's where I grew up with my mum and dad and it has memories. Why should I
move because of a group of daft laddies, who at 15 years old should know to behave better?"
Fortunately, not everyone in the area has been so unwelcoming, as Boyle added,
"I love my neighbors, they are the most beautiful group of people who always look out for me."
Boyle discovered the grim cost of fame the hard
way when the millions she earned ended up tearing her family apart. In particular,
her brother Gerry reportedly became estranged from her for two entire years.
The drama began when allegations emerged that Gerry had blackmailed Susan for roughly
$75,000 to rescue his business Instant World from bankruptcy. He was even said to have threatened
suicide if she didn't comply, although Gerry told the Daily Record that such talk was nonsense.
According to him, Susan felt stuck in the middle of the family's tension, a situation that worsened
when it emerged that she'd been helping him with his business' financial issues. As Gerry recalled,
"She instantly broke down crying and said the suicide claims were a pack of lies. She said
she was sorry — not just for me but for the whole family rift. [...] Susan always feels she needs
to keep everyone happy by telling them what they want to hear. She doesn't like confrontation."
"Susan's personality is such that she worries about things, she gets upset about thing
In 2016, Boyle once again sparked concerns about the state of her mental health when
she was spotted in a state of extreme anxiety at Derry Airport. Just a month after that,
she was asked to leave British Airways' Heathrow lounge as she waited for a flight
back to Scotland because of an apparent disturbance. A witness told The Sun,
"She looked confused and was shouting, 'I've done nothing wrong, I've done nothing wrong.'"
Afterwards, a spokesperson for Boyle commented,
"Susan is absolutely fine and is on her way home."
Something good came out of the latter incident,
at least. After sending her brother Gerry a concerning voice message,
they ended up reuniting after two years of silence. Susan then revealed to the Daily Record,
"I'm very happy, it's a great relief and I'm looking to the future with a
happy smile. Everything is hunky dory and fantastic."
Boyle's health woes continued in 2022 when she suffered a minor stroke that left her
fearful for her career. But she recovered well enough to perform with the West End
cast of Les Misérables on the finale of Britain's Got Talent's 16th season.
"Last April there, I suffered a minor stroke."
"Did you?"
"And I thought it'd be crazy to be back on stage, and I have done it."
Ever since her star-making performance on Britain's Got Talent, Boyle has had
to face countless questions about her romantic life. Luckily for the press,
she's been more than happy to provide the answers, even if there's not been
much of a story to tell. As she admitted to the Mirror in 2009 at the age of 48,
she'd never been kissed. Although, two years later, she told the Daily Mail that
she actually did have her first boyfriend when she was 25, much to her father's disapproval, though.
Alas, it doesn't sound like there have been many sparks since then.
As Boyle admitted to OK! Magazine in 2020,
"I had a date in America six years ago, which lasted exactly 45 minutes. I went
for a massage in the spa of a hotel and met a doctor and then we went out
for lunch. I didn't tell anyone and my team thought I'd been kidnapped."
If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the
Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness
helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.