How SuBo learned to let go of painful past
Star tells of father’s beatings
SHE is a global superstar whose spectacular voice has earned her a fortune and brought joy to millions of fans. But Susan Boyle has now spoken for the first time about the sadness in her past, telling how her father used to hit her and hurt her.
The 55-year-old Scots singer – who shot to fame on Britain’s Got Talent in 2009 – opened up about her traumatic childhood in an interview at the weekend, saying that her father, ‘though a very good man, had a temper’.
She added: ‘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, I had to let it go. You have to accept it, that’s maturity.’
Miss Boyle’s father Patrick was a miner who moved to Scotland from Ireland and died in 1997, aged 81.
His daughter’s talent drew worldwide interest after she sang I Dreamed A Dream on the hit TV show that left judge Simon Cowell and millions of watching viewers open-mouthed in amazement.
The singer said that it has taken until now for her to be able to come to terms with her father’s violence and her memories of it.
She added: ‘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.’
A close family friend confirmed Miss Boyle’s recollections, saying: ‘Yes, her dad was heavyhanded. It was due to his time in the war.’
Despite being worth an estimated £25million, Miss Boyle stays true to her roots.
She still lives in the modest house she shared with her parents – her mother Bridget died in 2007 at the age of 91 – in Blackburn, West Lothian.
She has spurned the spotlight for the past two years, but is about to release a new album of love songs, hand-picked by her mentor Cowell and called A Wonderful World.
It includes a version of Robbie Williams’s Angels.
SuBo is still single, but said she keeps in contact with a doctor she met in Florida while touring America.
She added: ‘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 very loving and loyal – and then sometimes I can be pretty hard to get.’
Diagnosed with Asperger syndrome – a mild form of autism – she is known for having occasional meltdowns.
Referring to a recent argument with British Airways staff at Heathrow, which ended with her crying and calling out to strangers for help, she said: ‘I was feeling rushed. It was a misunderstanding that has 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.’
Amid claims of rifts in her family after members approached her for money – sums as large as £100,000 – she tried to assert that all is well.
She said: ‘We all get on great now I’m learning to stick up for myself. They come and see me, we’re all reunited. There were differences of opinion, stuff that happens in families when one person becomes successful. But we’re beginning a new era.
‘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.’
Other tracks on SuBo’s new album include Paul McCartney and Wings’ Mull of Kintyre, Madonna’s Like a Prayer and When You Wish Upon a Star.
There are rumours a movie is to be made of Miss Boyle’s life, with Meryl Streep in the frame for the lead role – which in the past had been linked with Catherine Zeta-Jones.
But when asked who she would like to see portraying her on the silver screen, the singer said: ‘Oh, Julie Walters. She’s a very talented lady.’
Miss Boyle also revealed that, following a cameo in the Ben Stiller movie Zoolander 2, she is taking acting lessons.
She said: ‘Yes, I’m doing improvisation and textual reading.
‘It’s about analysing characters and building things up.’
‘I can be very loving and loyal’