Susan Boyle is heading to Hollywood for a long-awaited reunion with Simon Cowell, the music mogul who helped launch her career on Britain's Got Talent.
The Scottish singer, 65, from Blackburn, West Lothian, shot to global fame after stunning the judges and millions of viewers with her rendition of 'I Dreamed a Dream' on the ITV talent show in 2009.
After a bout of ill health led to a years-long hiatus from music, Boyle built intrigue by wiping her Instagram account in recent months and hinting at a "new era" with a dramatic new look. Now, after an emotional return to the stage at the weekend, she has revealed she is heading to Los Angeles in the next month to meet Cowell.
Reunion plans revealed
She told the Daily Record: "I've got a trip to LA coming up to see Simon Cowell. It's been about five or six years, it's been ages so I'm really looking forward to it. It'll be a reunion."
Boyle is keeping tight-lipped about her big plans with Cowell, who recently admitted he was ashamed of how badly he'd judged her on her first appearance on the show.
Cowell said in an interview: "When you watch it back, I'm like, 'God, you look so awful. Just horrible'.
"We are awful. All of us. I mean, that look Piers gives me. It's just I think of all the looks I've ever remembered, that might be the worst. And I was just as bad. We all were."
"And then, you know, thank God for her, it all worked out well. And, of course, I had the ability to cut all that stuff out. But it was a bit of a wake up call. Which is, you can't judge a book by its cover."
Emotional return to the stage
The reunion plans come after Boyle made an emotional return to the stage at the weekend, years after fearing she may never be able to perform again. She wowed the crowds at Summers End Festival in Angus, her first ever festival appearance, after a stroke in April 2022 that affected her speech and ability to sing.
Taking to the stage alongside a star-studded line-up including The Jacksons, UB40 and Emeli Sande, Boyle joined the Red Hot Chilli Pipers with a powerful rendition of Hallelujah and I Dreamed A Dream to mark her incredible return to performing.
She said: "It was nerve wracking because I had to give my best but it was also very humbling as well because I had a lot of support from other people behind the scenes including my manager.
"My hands were shaking and everything. It was good to sing Hallelujah as well with Chris Judge."
The first year of Summer's End saw around 12,000 people a day attend at the three-day-long fest in Brechin to see more than 60 artists. The event also saw Aberdeenshire-born Emeli Sande perform at her first festival in Scotland for years, arriving on site with her parents. The star, who shot to fame with a number 1 album in 2012, is making new music.
