Piersy baby is the one for me... just one look and I wanted him
on what I do, that’s how I cope. My team help and I don’t get stressed now because they take it out of the way.
“The recording studio is my bubble, my happy place, because there’s just me and the music. I’m transported to a different world. And to really relax, I close my front door, put my slippers on and watch telly. Vera is very good.”
Home is not the €750,000 house Susan bought in Blackburn, West Lothian, shortly after the success of her first album. She is happy a relative lives there now and prefers living in the former council house full of her late parents’ memories.
There have been some extravagances. She bought a €340 coat, had two days in a spa and flies in the posh seats. “Business class was something else,” she says. “I can sit back and watch a movie. That was a big transition. The closest I ever got to that was going on my bike to a friend’s house to watch a film on their big telly.”
The loneliness which plagued Susan has evaporated too. She says: “Back in 2009 I said, all my life I had been an outsider looking in and now I get to be a part of it. I don’t need to say I’m lonely any more and I can’t say I’m unloved any more as I’m not.
“I feel my fans’ love. I read it in the mail they write and the presents they send. I feel very humbled by it. I’ve been for dinner with fans and they’re lovely people.
“One fan sent me a sock with a hole in it. It’s the thought that counts.”
Although there are lots of friends and fans, there is still no boyfriend in Susan’s life.
She jokes: “I think at my age, sex means sick. I can but dream I suppose. Sometimes I look at young men, then think, ‘I can go to the sweetshop, but I don’t need to buy any sweets!’ I haven’t really thought about men at the moment. I’m really busy, and happy on my own.” However, one man definitely occupies Susan’s thoughts.
“Piersy Baby”, she giggles. “Now who wouldn’t like Piers Morgan? I took one look at him on Britain’s Got Talent and said, ‘I want you mate. I want you – come this way, Piersy Baby’.
“He’s a good laugh – he joins in. And he’s very clever too.”
And gorgeous? “You took words right out of my mouth!”
Recently another man caught Susan’s attention and she hopes they could one day make sweet music the together. “I met Rod Stewart at a Celtic match. He’s quite a guy. A gentleman, and a character with an outrageous sense of humour. I’d love to record a Celtic anthem with him.”
It is clear Simon Cowell has struck exactly the right note in his management of Susan. She feels perfectly safe, well looked after and highly motivated under his care as she starts promoting her new album, TEN, a celebration of the last 10 years of her career plus four new tracks.
Susan says: “Simon Cowell is the biggest inspiration in my career. I strive to make him proud. He inspires me to continue and aim for perfection. And I have a great team. It’s a
REVEALS WHY SHE NO LONGER FEELS LONELINESS
very thoughtful pairing. They aren’t afraid to say no to me, especially when I’m carrying on.
“I’ll do anything for a laugh but they tell me sometimes the pranks have to stop and I’ve to be a bit more serious about myself now.
“In the song Who I was Born to Be, I did a funny dance. Everybody was roaring laughing but they told me, ‘Stop, it’s a serious song’.”
It is clear their job is highly enjoyable too, because in the world of big egos, Susan is refreshingly kind, selfless and hilarious. It is almost as if she is blissfully unaware she is a star.
“Oh I don’t think I’m a star,” she says. “I’m just me. Susan Boyle.”
■ TEN is out on Friday, May 31, and is available for pre-order.
I feel my fans’ love. One sent a sock with a hole in it, it’s the thought that counts SUSAN