'My father hit me. He had a temper. And he hurt me': I Dreamed A Dream singer Susan Boyle lays to rest the last ghost of her childhood
Susan Boyle lives in Blackburn, West Lothian. But the house of the multi-millionaire singer is not in some gated community. Famously, it is tucked away in the middle of a uniform housing estate – the likes of which can be found the length and breadth of Scotland. It’s the house she grew up in.
The house where she lived with her parents. And it’s a touchstone to who she is – or rather, who she was – and a place that grounds her, no matter how fragile she gets, nor how extreme her life became after she dreamed a dream and became the most famous runner-up ever on Britain’s Got Talent.
The house is cosy and stuffed full of ornaments, mostly gifted by her fans. There are porcelain cats, paintings, religious artefacts, angel figurines and framed postcards that say, ‘If you can dream it, you can do it’.
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There is talk of a movie of Boyle’s life, with Meryl Streep in talks to play her, but when asked who she would like in the role she answers instantly: ‘Oh, Julie Walters'
For a while that was Boyle: she dreamed it, she did it. Yet over the past year there have been all kinds of rumours: her record company had dumped her, she was having a breakdown, she’d gone bald, she couldn’t cope following the death of her sister Bridie, who was the stabilising force in an often chaotic family.
But today, in her first interview in two years, Boyle shows few signs of any of this. She is incredibly open about her first-ever romantic relationship, the day-to-day problems she faces as an Asperger’s sufferer, and the rumours about family members heartlessly pursuing her money.
A lot of her memories of family life are fond ones. But towards the end of our conversation the mood changes, and I can see she is wrestling with whether to tell me or not, and then she starts to talk.
‘My father, though a very good man, had a temper. He showed it to me and he hurt me. He didn’t mean to but I held on to this for years and when he was dying [he passed away in 1997 aged 81], I had to let it go. You have to accept it, that’s maturity.’
Boyle's latest album, A Wonderful World, features love songs, classics that have been Boyle-ised. Her vocals are like pulling on a big cashmere robe
Accept someone’s hit you? ‘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. All of these things that happened in my life, you have to let go of the bad. I’ve seen the Queen and sung at her birthday, all of that is wonderful.’
I get the impression that Boyle isn’t underplaying having a parent with a violent temper, she just isn’t sure how to process it. This is the first time she has spoken about being physically abused by her father and she quickly becomes agitated.
She could have bought a mansion but prefers to be in a three-up two-down. ‘I’ve got a posh house but I thought it best my niece have that one.’ Above: Boyle in front of her 'posh' house
(I later get the story confirmed by an old family friend who, on the basis of anonymity, tells me that ‘Yes, her dad was heavy-handed. It was due to his time in the war.’)
She goes quiet for a long time and in that silence it is hard not to go over and give her a reassuring hug. I break the silence by asking her what she does with the money she has worked so hard to earn.
‘Well, I once invested in a fur coat – it was £300. That’s probably the most expensive thing I own. I love perfume as well – Cartier, Chanel No 5. I used to buy them at duty free.’
I get the impression that Boyle isn’t underplaying having a parent with a violent temper, she just isn’t sure how to process it. Above: her parents, Patrick and Bridget, on their wedding day
She offers me shortcake biscuits and an array of sandwich ‘pieces’, and for entertainment she wants to play me her latest album, A Wonderful World. The songs are love songs, classics that have been Boyle-ised. Her vocals are like pulling on a big cashmere robe. ‘It’s very romantic, isn’t it? Perfect for a couple who meet for the first time,’ she says, a comment all the more bittersweet as Boyle says she has never been in love.
In which case, who is she singing for? ‘The songs were favourites of my mum and dad’s.’ She instinctively glances up at a photo of them on the wall. I remark that her father looks movie-star handsome: ‘Oh I wouldn’t have told him that,’ she demurs. Her family looms large in her life and – Bridie aside – not necessarily for the best reasons.
Boyle, 55, came to international attention when she appeared on Britain’s Got Talent in 2009. She was the runner-up – losing out to the dance troupe Diversity – but her first album, released in November of the same year, became the UK’s best-selling debut album of all time.
'I’ll always put my trust in Simon – he’s a genius,’ she says proudly. Simon is, of course, Simon Cowell, the music mogul on whose show Boyle was first discovered
She has since released a further six albums – selling 20 million of them worldwide – and is said to be worth an estimated £25 million. The temporary silence in her front room ends when her version of Robbie Williams’s Angels comes on. I look around at all her religious artefacts and ask, does she believe in angels? ‘Yes. We have a guardian angel with us every day, I know that. You’re not supposed to see them but they are there.’
Boyle is smiley and cherub-like. She’s wearing a pink tracksuit top and grey sweatpants. She has pink cheeks, giant eyes and soft hair. The hair looks real – those reports of it falling out are clearly ridiculous. In fact, she looks better than when I saw her last year.
She’s lost two stone in weight because she’s been walking everywhere. ‘Yes I walk every day now,’ she says. ‘I was beginning to feel a wee bit unhealthy. I even walk to the gym and, yes, I’ve been going. I’ll walk to the Regal Theatre in the neighbouring town of Bathgate, see a show and that’s me quite happy.
There have been rumours of a relationship – Susan’s first adult relationship – with a doctor she met in Clearwater, Florida, when touring America
We had Ross Kemp at the Regal the other week and there are nice places to eat, the Cairn Hotel. I do go to these places but I like to keep busy in the house as well. Have another shortbread, I’m not going to eat them, I’m diabetic, type 2.’
She casually mentions that the reason we’re listening to the album is that this is the first time she has heard it herself. Is she pleased with it? ‘I think so. I had a lot of fun making it.
Simon picked the songs. 'I’ll always put my trust in Simon – he’s a genius,’ she says proudly. Simon is, of course, Simon Cowell, the music mogul on whose show Boyle was first discovered. There were rumours that she never saw him any more, that he’d lost interest in her. ‘I don’t see that much of him,’ she says, ‘but I hear from him a lot.’
Susan Boyle lives in Blackburn, West Lothian. But the house of the multi-millionaire singer is not in some gated community - it is tucked away in the middle of a uniform housing estate
Speaking about Susan, Simon told Event: 'I really believe Susan Boyle has been an inspiration. I will never forget her first audition. She’s an incredible person and I have loved every minute we have worked together. The fact that she used this opportunity to turn her life around is a reason we make these shows. As with all her albums this is a record which is personal to Susan, and she sounds incredible on it.'
How did she feel when she read stories that Cowell was about to drop her? The papers said she was in tears. ‘All those things were totally untrue and I had had a very successful meeting with [Cowell’s] Syco Records.’ This must be right as in fact Sony has extended her contract for more albums.
And what about Event’s Piers Morgan, her champion on Britain’s Got Talent? ‘No, I haven’t seen him recently, but perhaps we will catch up on Good Morning Britain.’ She giggles. ‘He had me on his show for CNN.’
She seemed to have her first schoolgirl crush at the age of 47 on Morgan. ‘No, he’s married,’ she says dismissively, as if I’m mad.
Another ballad cues up. ‘It’s very romantic, isn’t it? Especially at the time of year when people are looking for something extra-special.’
Is she looking for that? Does she have someone romantic in her life? ‘No, I wish I had, though,’ she says wistfully.
There have been rumours of a relationship – Susan’s first adult relationship – with a doctor she met in Clearwater, Florida, when touring America. Is that over? ‘Well, I just haven’t seen him for a while. He’s a nice man, he took me out for a meal and we got friendly, you know. Everyone was going daft looking for me and there I was with this lovely guy.’
She pauses. ‘Potentially it’s not finished. I’d like to see him more. But I’m very busy, and it’s been a long time but I would like someone. I’m very sensitive. I can be loving and loyal, and then sometimes I can be pretty hard to get,’ she laughs. She says they have stayed in touch.
It’s perplexing to find her here, in the house she grew up in. She could live anywhere. She could have bought a mansion but she prefers to be in a three-up two-down. ‘I’ve got a posh house but I thought it best my niece have that one.’
This ‘posh house’ is no one’s idea of a mansion. It is on the other side of town and has four bedrooms as opposed to two, and the reception rooms are bigger. ‘I’m more relaxed here – there are a lot of nice memories of my family growing up and stuff, and there are people all around me if I need help with anything. The posh house was too big. It wasn’t me. Here I have all my lovely familiar things around me and it makes me feel secure.’
Security and the notion of home are very important to her. ‘I have had holidays, though. I’ve been to Ireland a few times, France and Portugal. In Portugal I like to sunbathe.’
Always On My Mind is playing, and a propos of nothing Susan says: ‘It’s very reflective, that song, the person is trying to say sorry.
You don’t go around saying sorry, you show it. The best form of communication for me is through music. I’m best with music – it’s been well publicised I have Asperger’s [she was diagnosed in 2013]. It’s a form of autism, and communication can be difficult because I can’t find the right words or phrases.’
Boyle’s Asperger’s syndrome has been well reported and usually when she’s been unable to cope with something. In a recent incident at Heathrow airport, where she was waiting to fly home to Scotland, she had a loud and heated argument with British Airways staff that ended with her crying and calling out to strangers for help.
She has also been spotted on the streets outside her home screaming and crying in the middle of the night when one of her cats went missing.
‘I was feeling rushed,’ she says by way of explanation for the airport meltdown. ‘It was a misunderstanding that’s been resolved. I wrote an apology to the airport and now everything is OK, but I’m trying not to fly much now because I don’t want to get agitated. I’m dealing with it,’ she says sweetly.
Asperger’s charities criticised her for writing an apology, saying she shouldn’t have to say sorry. It can’t be easy having Asperger’s and being instantly recognisable. ‘Yes but I’m working on that. And although that might be one of the less good sides, there are many great things about my life now.’
That ‘life now’ would appear to be almost entirely free of family. She is the youngest of nine siblings. ‘There were no favourites in my family, we all had different talents. Mary [the eldest Boyle] is a better singer than me. There’s a 23-year age difference between me and her. I look back at photographs and I think everyone was loved equally, but there’s always a natural conflict within families. Bridie was the glue of the family.’
She shows me a picture of Bridie, who died in October last year and has left a huge chasm in Boyle’s life. ‘I found it hard when she went. I couldn’t cry at her funeral. I felt frustrated, I didn’t want to allow my emotions to come out. It’s difficult without Bridie but it’s getting easier. She was always there at the end of the phone. I speak to her daughter now. She’s taking on her role.’
What about the rumoured rifts in her family? ‘We all get on great now,’ she says, not entirely convincingly. ‘I’m learning to stick up for myself. They come and see me, we’re all reunited.’
But why were you at odds in the first place? ‘There were differences of opinion, stuff that happens in families when one person becomes successful. But we’re beginning a new era.’
Is she sure? What about the stories of family members, including her brother Gerry, asking for sums as large as £100,000 from her – is that true? ‘Well that was to begin with. Maybe I did feel taken advantage of but I’m not hanging on to that. Let’s make a fresh start. That’s the way forward.’
Surely that’s missing the point – families shouldn’t take advantage of one another? ‘Yes, but as you get older you learn to say maybe it’s not so important. Things happen in people’s lives that make them the person they are. You need to let go of the past, the emotional baggage. It depends what you’ve been through.’
B oyle is very much a home bird but there are occasional sojourns away from Blackburn. One trip involved going to Hollywood for a cameo in the Ben Stiller comedy Zoolander 2. ‘Weirdly in an airport, but that was really enjoyable because they closed it down so we could film.
It was in Rome. Ben Stiller was very clever and very funny.’ Apparently they developed a bond and she’d love to do more. So much so that she’s taking acting lessons. ‘Yes I’m doing improvisation and textual reading – it’s about analysing characters and building things up.’
There is also talk of a movie of Boyle’s life, with Meryl Streep in talks to play her, but when asked who she would like in the role she answers instantly: ‘Oh, Julie Walters. She’s a very talented lady.’
That’s interesting that you see yourself as someone so much older, I say. ‘Yes, perhaps it’s because I have an older outlook, but I’m also very young at heart.’
The movie isn’t as far-fetched as it seems. Another Britain’s Got Talent alumnus has already had the celluloid treatment. James Corden played Paul Potts, the wonky-toothed tenor, in the movie One Chance. Did she see it at the Regal? ‘I did, it was very moving. I’d like my movie to be more funny, ironic, thought-provoking.’
It is time for me to leave. I ask her if she is going to be OK after I go.
‘Oh yes, I’ll have a tuna sandwich and give Tess her Whiskas. I’ll go for a walk and meet people. I’m quite happy.’ She says her neighbours often invite her in for dinner, so she’s never lonely.
‘You always have to be nice to people. How did you find me now? Was I nice?’ You were, Susan. You were.
‘A Wonderful World’ is out on Nov 25 and is available to pre-order on amazon.co.uk
