Susan Boyle was nearly flattened by fame, says Rebecca Hardy in the London Daily Mail. Just a few months ago, Boyle was a dowdy church volunteer living alone with her cat in a small Scottish village. But when she belted out a beautiful rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” on Britain’s Got Talent, she became an international celebrity—at a heavy personal cost. “My life ceased to be normal,” she recalls. “It got to the stage where I couldn’t even go outside because the media surrounded the house. I had to draw my blinds, and even after that they started hammering on my door. I was quite frightened. I felt very vulnerable, because I was living on my own. There were phone calls 24 hours a day. They kept me awake for three weeks, until I changed my number.” Boyle, who has mild learning disabilities, ended up checking into a mental health clinic with nervous exhaustion. “I don’t remember much. I just know someone sent for an ambulance and I went. I needed to sleep. I was too tired to even think straight.” But now the 48-year-old singer is back with her debut album and filled with confidence. “I’m much stronger now. I couldn’t handle things at that time because I was new to it all. But I’ve got a great deal more ability than people give me credit for.”
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