Authors: John McShane
Three days after being taken to The Priory, brother Gerry was able to announce that Susan was ‘coming back to her old ways’, although she was still said to be worried that her career might be over before it had started. ‘Where does her career go from here? Will she be still accepted? She didn’t win the competition. Will people still want to hear her sing? And will there be a career for her as we stand here today? What Susan needs most now is to return from London to Edinburgh, to come home to Blackburn, be at home for a couple of days.’
After five days at The Priory, five days in which the world in general, and Britain and America in particular, waited with baited breath for news of her welfare, it was revealed that Susan had at last left the hospital although not even her family seemed to know exactly where she’d gone.
‘I think things are becoming clearer now and she’s much more content. I believe she’s in the middle of London, in a flat in London,’ Gerry told
GMTV
.
‘The way forward now is to talk about where her career goes from here. She’s absorbing the fact that America has a huge appetite for her and she’s now beginning to believe that yes, indeed, I will be a singer and there will be a recording career beyond it. It’s all she ever wanted to do.
‘Simon Cowell – he’s been around the dance floor a few times hasn’t he? I’m sure he knows that he’s got someone who has broken down the barriers in America before she even gets there and I’m sure Simon will do a good job for her.’
Whatever kind of treatment it was deemed Susan needed, one of the first sightings of her came when she indulged in some good old-fashioned retail therapy. It wasn’t in the boutiques of South Molton Street, W1, or the department stores of Knightsbridge, however, that she decided to splash out. Rather it was in the quiet, suburban town of Radlett in Hertfordshire, an affluent area popular for its mix of countryside and ease of access to London.
Susan was joined on her shopping trip by Dr Sarah Lotzof, a private doctor with an interest in psychiatry. When asked how she was feeling, Susan replied, ‘Oh fine, thanks.’ And when complimented on her appearance, she just smiled coyly and thanked well-wishers. The pair went to the Lulu & Fred clothes store in Radlett. Staff closed the shop so Susan could browse in privacy, and she bought a range of expensive clothes from designers such as Handwritten, Elie Tahari and Twin-Set. Her spree included stocking up on casual wear, smart trousers, matching tops, cardigans, shoes and a dress. Frederic Benisty, co-owner of the shop, said, ‘She was here having a good time. She came out with her doctor and you can imagine that when someone like that goes out they are going to be a little bit anxious. But halfway through she was absolutely thrilled and happy. She was absolutely fine. She was joking around and having a laugh.’
By the Saturday, seven days after the exhausting final, Susan was looking happy and healthy when she flew into Edinburgh Airport from London. She smiled and posed before a ‘welcome home’ sign before being whisked off for a planned family reunion at a secret location.
Brother John said, ‘I have spoken to Susan and she is very excited and positive about the future. She told me, “Don’t worry. I’m having the time of my life.” She said she felt fantastic and couldn’t wait to come back home this weekend. She was giggling away and sounded more relaxed than she has in ages.
‘That’s the thing with Susan. She suffers from these mood swings, so I hope that now she’s out of the clinic she’s OK.
‘I also hope she’s been reassured by Simon Cowell’s people that everything’s on track with her career and that she can now start looking forward.’
He said his sister had been pleased when Cowell rang her at The Priory to reassure her that her career was on track. ‘By all accounts it gave her a real boost and I hope that I can thank him soon for all the help he’s given her,’ he said. But he added, ‘She was put under extreme pressure and I don’t think they handled the situation well. These were exceptional circumstances and they had a duty of care towards her.
‘I’m very angry about it. They could have done more to help Susan. She can be very influenced by other people. She never listens to her family. It’s part of her slight disability. She’s very naive,’ he said.
Brother Gerry also highlighted some of her difficulties. ‘She thinks the best of everyone – that’s her upbringing, she takes everyone at face value. A part of her thinks she can walk down the street and nothing is different to before. But it’s not like that any more – she’s a worldwide phenomenon. We just hope she doesn’t get taken for a ride by unscrupulous people.’
Gerry said first thing she planned do with her earnings was to buy her £80,000 four-bedroom council home in Blackburn. It had been rented by her family for 50 years
and SuBo still slept in the same room she had as a child. ‘She will keep the house as part of the family and if she can afford a bigger house she will buy that too. She’s certainly not going to buy a Jaguar or do this and that and fritter the money away – she can’t even drive! That’s her all over – she’s so generous. Money is not really important to her. What she wants is a successful singing career and to be respected.’
If one aspect of the torment she had been through was her separation from Pebbles that at least was to end. The much-loved pet was shielded from photographers – one newspaper decided ‘Pebbles Has a Minder’ – while being carried from Susan’s home to be reunited with her at a secret address.
By the middle of the week, ten days after the collapse at the hotel, Susan was winging her way back down to London for rehearsals for the
Britain’s Got Talent
tour. The question was, would she be fit enough to appear?
One insider said, ‘Everything depends on Susan and how she feels. We have made it clear that we are in her hands and we just want to make sure that she is fit and well.
‘At the moment it looks like Susan will join the rest of the
BGT
finalists on stage on some of the dates, but she won’t do the entire tour. The details are still being worked out. Susan is most excited about starting work on her album and we have a responsibility to make sure she is cared for and is happy and well.’
Susan was in good spirits after she jetted into London, waving and dancing for photographers. She wore the same cardigan, trousers and necklace that she had worn while shopping in Radlett the previous Friday and to travel home to Scotland the next day. Despite buying those new clothes, this made it three appearances in the same combination in less than a week. Perhaps the fact that Pebbles had also been brought to London to accompany played a part in her apparent good humour. She also knew that she could contact Dr Lotzof any time if a problem developed.
Simon Cowell reportedly paid for her accommodation on her return – a luxury flat valued at £2 million in a converted convent in North London, which also had the essential requirement that the letting agents would allow a cat to be kept there.
It was also widely reported that U2’s financial wizard Ossie Kilkenny, 62, had agreed to mastermind Susan’s career.
The other acts would be staying in hotels, but the plan was that Susan would be returned to her new home whenever possible. No less than four limos were to be used to fool photographers so that her comings and goings could be kept as secret as possible.
Susan was due to rehearse on the Tuesday for the opening night of the month-long 26-show tour in Birmingham that Friday, but she cancelled, causing many to wonder whether she would make it. But make it she did, and in style.
The
Daily Express
announced:
‘Susan Boyle made a sensational return to the stage last night – winning a standing ovation from thousands of fans. She looked relaxed and happy on the opening night of the
Britain’s Got Talent
tour in Birmingham. Wearing the same silver gown she wore in the controversial final, she sang a stunning rendition of “I Dreamed A Dream”.
‘Her assured performance and good spirits allayed fears about her just a week after she checked out of a London clinic… Last night, as the 5,000-strong crowd called out for more, she blew them a kiss.
‘Host Stephen Mulhern joked that her cat Pebbles – nearly as famous as the Scottish spinster herself – couldn’t make the show because he was in Las Vegas.’
The Times
reported:
‘Susan Boyle returned to the stage last night after keeping her fans waiting over whether she would perform on the opening night of the
Britain’s Got Talent
live tour. The Scottish singer performed at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham less than two weeks after she was admitted to the Priory clinic. She had lost to the dance group Diversity in the final of the ITV show.
‘Tour organisers are determined not to put any pressure on Boyle to perform in case she suffers a repeat of the emotional breakdown that led to her admission to the north London hospital. As the singer arrived in Birmingham she told well-wishers: “I’m feeling much
better now, thank you, and I’m really looking forward to performing.” But organisers said that she was leaving the decision until the last minute.
‘In the event, she took to the stage, belting out the hits “I Dreamed A Dream” and “Memory” from the musicals
Les Misérables
and
Cats
. During the performance she blew a kiss to her fans as they screamed and whistled.
‘The fans who queued outside the 13,000-capacity venue had been left with no information as to whether the woman most of them had come to see would take the stage.’
Critic Kevin O’Sullivan of the
Sunday Mirror
wrote: ‘No word of a lie… the first night of the
Britain’s Got Talent
live tour was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life. Amazing!
‘Whisper it quietly – but it was even more fun than the sensational TV show. No boring judges to listen to. The winners Diversity were astonishing. These guys can dance like nobody else.
‘But let’s cut to the chase. The 5,000 ecstatic fans who turned Birmingham’s NIA stadium into a seething cauldron of excitement couldn’t wait for a certain Susan Boyle. And, after a week of “Would she or wouldn’t she turn up”, she did. Better still, she didn’t disappoint. It’s ridiculous pretending that the spinster from Blackburn, West Lothian is the greatest singer in the world. But, now that she’s the most hit-upon YouTube phenomenon of all time, she has an aura about her.
‘SuBo’s got charisma. And she knows how to use it. Did she nail all the notes? No. Did she know how to bring the house down? Oh yes!
‘She didn’t get a standing ovation … she got a jump up and down, hold your hands in the air, raise the roof roar of approval.’
The
BGT
tour host, Stephen Mulhern, had to admit, ‘She did great – an amazing comeback and the audience loved it. But I honestly didn’t know if she was going to go on stage, right until the last minute. I was worried I would say her name, turn around and not see her there. I had some ad-libs ready.
‘I was told 20 minutes before she performed that she was coming on. But when I went on stage to introduce her I was still unsure. I was worried I might say her name and she wouldn’t be there. I think that’s the way it’s going to be for the rest of the tour.’ Stephen said he had ‘absolutely no idea’ whether she would be able to complete the tour or keep up her dazzling performances.
‘Susan was scared backstage,’ he said. ‘She was nervous. But when she did get on to stage she did brilliantly.’
So the ‘comeback’ had been a triumph. There were reviews so filled with superlatives that many artists would spend a lifetime performing and never come near such praise.
Yet, as with so many aspects of Susan’s life, there were many more twists to come.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
B
irmingham had been a triumph but the second date of the tour, at Sheffield, never quite reached the same level of excellence or praise.
True, Susan received a standing ovation, but she also appeared to stumble over the words of, of all songs, ‘Memory’.
Susan, who had taken to wearing her late mother Bridget’s wedding ring around her neck as a memento to give her strength, seemed to lose her way briefly as she sang the
Cats
showstopper but was cheered on by the crowd at the Sheffield Arena. Earlier in the show, however, she received a mixed reaction from the audience, with several people booing when her name was announced.
Wearing a long sequined silver dress, she appeared in the second half of the show and began her performance with ‘Memory’, before launching into ‘I Dreamed A
Dream’. She thanked the audience as they stood and cheered in support as she stumbled over the words to ‘Memory’; both songs received a standing ovation and she blew a kiss and waved at her fans.
The third city on the tour was Manchester and Susan pulled out of her two scheduled performances. A tour insider said, ‘There is nothing sinister going on. It’s been very much one step at a time.’ And a spokesman said, ‘She sends her sincere apologies to her fans for not appearing.’
That left a big question mark over whether or not she would make it for the next scheduled stop on the tour. And that, of all places, happened to be Glasgow. Such was the world’s interest in Susan that her appearances or non-appearances were big news all around the world. From Australia to America, the Far East to the Frozen North, the public were being informed of which shows she made, and what the performance was like, and which ones she didn’t, and why.
Piers Morgan explained, ‘Susan is fine – she just did three shows then felt too tired. She has doctors with her all the time. I know she really wants to sing in Scotland. I think that’s one of the reasons she took a rest, but they will take a decision each day about whether she will perform. As far as I’m aware she is absolutely fine, just a bit tired.’
Perhaps it’s worth noting the brief list of ‘current people news briefs’ that Reuters News Agency circulated on 16 June. There was a story about vegetarian Paul
McCartney launching a ‘meat free Monday’, American talk-show host David Letterman apologising for a sexually charged joke he had made about a woman politician, a member of Aerosmith rejoining the band after injuring his head climbing out of his Ferrari, and the latest in the row over Madonna’s adoption of an African child.