Singer Susan Boyle has marked her 65th birthday in her modest council home in Blackburn, West Lothian, after moving back from a five-bedroom detached villa she had purchased at the other end of the town. The £65,000 property, which she originally bought before her rise to fame, remains her primary residence despite her multi-million-pound fortune.
Boyle, who shot to stardom on Britain's Got Talent in 2009, had bought a £300,000 new-build home locally, which she called 'The Posh House', but has since returned to her original home. The singer, now 65, says she feels more comfortable in the smaller property, which is filled with Donny Osmond fridge magnets, religious statues, and her rescue cat Tessie.
Diagnosed with type 2 diabetes earlier this year, Boyle has lost over two stone by walking daily to local shops and cutting out biscuits and sweets, though she still indulges occasionally. 'Oh, you caught me!' she laughed while eating a Tesco economy sausage roll and drinking Irn Bru straight from the bottle.
Boyle, who was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome in 2012, says she now understands herself better. 'I always struggled to make myself understood. I still go mad a bit, shout and scream. Not good, not good! But at least now I know why,' she said. 'Baby steps, baby steps, but I am getting better.'
The singer has signed a new deal with Simon Cowell's label Syco and released a Christmas album, A Wonderful World, featuring a duet with Michael Bolton and a cover of Madonna's 'Like A Prayer'. Despite her fame, Boyle worries about public perception: 'Like any artist, I worry about people still liking me, I worry about going stale. People have expectations of me. They see me as a pillar of society and I don't want to let them down.'
