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Piers Morgan says Susan Boyle was in a state with no sleep
Amar Singh and Justin Davenport, Evening StandardUpdated 10:00am on 1 Jun 2009
Britain's Got Talent star Susan Boyle had stopped sleeping and eating properly for more than a week as she struggled to cope with the pressure of being on the show, it was revealed today.
Final flourish: Susan Boyle shows a leg during her final performance
Piers Morgan, one of the show's judges, said the Scottish singer was in “a state” all last week which culminated in an emotional breakdown at the weekend.
After show: clutching a bouquet after her defeat
Today the 48-year-old church volunteer from Blackburn, West Lothian, was being treated in the Priory clinic after being taken by ambulance under police guard last night.
Morgan said today: “She is getting away from everyone.
“She's receiving the best care possible. She needs time to sleep and eat and do the things that she found rather difficult last week.”
Boyle had reportedly ran down the corridor of TV studios on Saturday night shouting “I hate this show” after she came second to Essex dance troupe Diversity in the final.
She also allegedly threw water over a floor manager who tried to calm her down.
Boyle began behaving so oddly at the four-star Crown Plaza hotel in Westminster last night that a team assigned to accompany her alerted a private GP who was called in to assess her and took the decision that she should be admitted to a hospital.
Police were contacted to escort her to the Priory.
A hotel source said: “The staff were concerned — something wasn't right. She looked lost. Not all there.”
Yesterday's statement from talkbackThames said: “Following Saturday night's show, Susan is exhausted and emotionally drained.
“She has been seen by her private GP who supports her decision to take a few days out for rest and recovery.
“We offer her our ongoing support and wish her a speedy recovery.”
A Scotland Yard spokesman said : “We were called at 6pm to a central London hotel where doctors were assessing a woman under the Mental Health Act.
“She was taken to a clinic voluntarily and at the request of doctors police were asked to accompany them.
“It is not unusual for doctors to ask police to attend in circumstances where they are assessing someone. It is also not unusual for them to accompany someone to a clinic in cases where their attendance might prove necessary.”
The Priory, which specialises in the treatment of mental health problems, could not be reached for comment today.
Despite finishing second in Saturday's final, Boyle has been tipped for a professional career and is now set to sign a lucrative multi-million deal with Simon Cowell.
After her first performance was watched by millions on the web, Boyle has become a worldwide celebrity appearing on TV shows across the globe, including The Oprah Winfrey Show in the US.
Experts have predicted she could make £8 million from an autobiography.
Her new-found celebrity ensured that the competition kept grabbing the headlines.
The final became the most watched television programme in the UK for five years when 19.2 million tuned in.
But recent days saw a backlash against Boyle, who was accused of four-letter outbursts at her hotel and faced speculation that she would not be able to cope with the pressure of fame.
Bookies avoided huge payouts with her surprise defeat.
Just under four million people voted, ITV said.
Reader views (13)
People went for adoring this woman when she sang for the first time...to loathing her bcos of what was reported in the media about her behaviour. SHE is not to blame for this - it was handled wrongly and we now have a broken woman who needs to retreat back to friends and family and be left in peace. Yes she can make something out of these appearances, but she is not stable enough to deal with our cruel media and public so anything she does, has to be on a smaller scale with the right people managing her and backing her.
- Nicky, London, 03/06/2009 17:35
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Do not let the song 'I had a dream' become a reality for her. Let someone in showbusiness invite her to sing before the Queen then leave her alone to decide.
- David, Qatar, 01/06/2009 13:52
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This woman up until the show lived off benefits for the last 27 years and probably never worked in her life and had a cat for company. What did people expect would happen? maybe Mr Cowells Coffers will have to wait a little longer before he can finally complete exploiting her and earn more of his millions....Oh that and making a fair few children cry was classic, Mr Cowell your skating on thin ice before the public backlash turns on you...
- Dc, Ealing, London, 01/06/2009 13:43
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I still think Susan Boyle will have a glitterint career. Lets face it we all know from the various forms of media what fame and shows like this bring. no-one cna be that ignorant. Therefore, she knew what she was getting into. There is no doubt her voice was fantastic, but she was beaten by a better act.
It seems to me this is sour grapes on her part, and she is trying to take the limelight from Diversity.
- E Sullivan, London, 01/06/2009 13:38
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As a doctor, I can tell you that with some people, you can tell they are barking mad just by looking at them. This woman is one of them. It is, unfortunately, uncurable.
- Professor Keith, King's Cross, London, 01/06/2009 13:37
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I watched this programme for the first time on Saturday evening and immediately thought this woman was not right in the head. It was like watching a freak show... painful!
- Goggs, London, 01/06/2009 13:31
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Obviously this woman led a sheltered life in the Scottish village Blackburn working for charities. The way it is going now for her, she would have been peaceful living modestly with her benefits, and millions of dollars inome prospects and the focus by media is not doing her any good. Best for her to go back to her roots to her village and live peacefully forgetting the vicious media-focused life and the millions of dollars which will heap further misery on her.
- Gary, London, 01/06/2009 13:19
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To Ali Sichilongo
...Why do you sound so bitter...? I get the impression that you think you are better than everyone. I have read your comments over the past couple of days and I have come to the conclusion, you think you are "perfect". Thankfully, you are not!
We do not know what went in in the background with Susan Boyle. Was she promised a glittering career? We can all speculate but not one of us will know... it's all about viewing figures. We are all to blame, each and everyone of us for making unknown people celebrities... for instance, if we were not interested, why do we leave comments on this site? Susan Boyle is a grown woman, but you can tell by her persona, that she is a lost soul. She has everyone right to be angry and I for one, don't blame her. I knew she was not going to win and I think someone should have evaluated her mental state before the show. We the public have to answer to this as we have bombarded the media by wanting to know more about her etc... The only way we can beat this is by not watching all this crap on TV... but guess what. We are hooked... we need to watch and see what's going on with everyone else. This is the sad, honest truth. We thirst for this kind of rubbish tv.
If we don't leave comments, buy magazines to read their latest story or watch the programes, this will change.
No doubt people will leave comments about this rant... do I care, nope!
- Lee, London, 01/06/2009 12:38
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I hope that this is their 'Big Brother Race Incident', i.e. their wake-up call.
Too many people with mental illnesses, personality disorders and learning disabilities have been used for too long to line peoples pockets on shows like this.
Let's see if they dare broadcast the early-rounds 'freak-show' element on BGT and X-Factor ever again. A disgrace.
- Ged, Blackheath, London, 01/06/2009 12:33
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At least she's been able to get out of the music business earlier than Sid Vicious, Jimi Hendrix, and Elvis Presley.
- Martin H. Watson, Teddington, 01/06/2009 12:24
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Such a shame the public and this lady could not see they were being played. The only talent she had was 'shock value' the first time she sang. A figure of comedy rather than singing talent
- Ge, Cornwall, 01/06/2009 12:06
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Who cares? She signed up to this "circus" and should have read the "buyer beware" small print....All I can say is - thank God it's over!!...She'll need to sort herself out and get on with it if she wants to make any decent money...she's not a child, she's a grown woman who dreamed of being a star...well she's got what she wanted now, and unfortunately can't use naivety as her excuse for what's swirling around her now...where has she been for the last 10 years or so?? This is showbiz baby...what you dreamed of...so just get on with it!
- Ali Sichilongo, London, 01/06/2009 11:47
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All this woman did was enter a 'talent' competition - yet from what I've seen (and however much I've tried to avoid anything to do with this show it has been in every newspaper I've read and many news programmes I've watched) she has been hounded by the media since her first performance (not having seen her or any of the other contestants I can't comment on how good/bad she was). Whilst she signed up for the show I'm sure she didn't sign up for the horror of the media - prior to her public 'breakdown' was she rude to anyone? did she do something that warranted her private life being pulled apart? I don't imagine for one minute she did. I hope the media are happy for what they have done to this woman!
- Andy, london, 01/06/2009 11:03
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