Authors: John McShane
Professor Thompson went on to say, ‘I cannot talk specifically about Susan Boyle, but any admission to a psychiatric hospital for a matter of days is, in my opinion, a failed admission, because either it was unnecessary in the first place or the job hasn’t been done fully.’
He added, ‘I would want to know that people being exposed to such pressures are actually looked after. I think I know what TV companies would say – they would say “these people are willing volunteers”… The fact that there is consent between the TV company and contestant does not prevent the TV company having a duty of care once that consent has been given.’
He stressed that the north London private clinic ‘is not a rest home and it’s not a spa. It is a psychiatric hospital.’
Susan’s brother Gerry confirmed she was missing her home in West Lothian – and Pebbles. ‘She is a bit tired and maybe even a wee bit homesick,’ he revealed. ‘When I spoke to her yesterday she was asking about her cat. It’s going to take a wee while for her to get her head round all this because she just comes from a wee village in Blackburn.
‘First and foremost we have to make sure she is happy, and she is – she wouldn’t change all this for the world. It would be nice to get her back home for a couple of days. But she will bounce back – we know our Susan. She’s at the Priory talking to people there about how she feels and where she goes from here. She sounded a bit happier, she sounded a bit more like herself, but certainly a bit more rested.
‘She’s been on a tremendous roller-coaster. There’s been an enormous amount of media speculation and intense activity. She’s not used to that. She’s coming to terms with that now that she’s no longer an anonymous face.
‘I think what led up to it was the build-up to the show and just psyching herself up for that and then wondering after the show, “Where do I go now?”’
Mr Boyle added, ‘This is the start of Susan’s international career, now that the talent show is finished. She is not interested in money, she’s not a material person, but what she is interested in is working with her idols and
I’m sure Mr Cowell will have a few people lined up. I was absolutely delighted with the result on Saturday. In my opinion, it’s not about winning the competition, it’s about where your career goes afterwards.’
The show’s production company Talkback Thames said, ‘We offer her our ongoing support and wish her a speedy recovery.’
So did one of Susan’s compatriots. Fellow Scot, Prime Minister Gordon Brown, was being interviewed on television in the middle of the Priory drama, and he said, ‘I hope Susan Boyle is OK because she is a really, really nice person. I spoke to Simon Cowell last night and Piers Morgan and wanted to be sure that she was OK.’
Piers Morgan, in fact, gave an insider’s view of the torment that Susan was going through. In an article he wrote for the
Mail on Sunday
seven days after Susan was admitted to the Priory, he described the events leading up to that admission.
The day of the final he had asked her if she was okay on the telephone.
“‘Not really,” she said. “I’ve not had a good night’s sleep all week, I haven’t been eating much, and I’m really stressed out.”
“‘You’ve got your chance to show everyone what you can do tonight. This is it, Susan. This is your moment to have the last laugh.”
‘She laughed, “I don’t feel much like laughing. There’s so much pressure, I don’t want to let anyone down.”
“‘You won’t. You have inspired millions of people around the world with your singing, and you mustn’t let a few silly headlines ruin it for you. You’ve enjoyed the show haven’t you?”
“‘Oh yes, of course. I’ve been living my dream.” I believed her but was still worried for her.
“‘You going to be OK tonight?” She didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”
‘Later that night, Susan walked on to the stage and unleashed a magnificent new version of “I Dreamed A Dream”. I was staggered by how confidently she sang. After the extraordinary rollercoaster she’d been through, I genuinely feared it might all end in tears at the final hurdle, that she might crack under the maelstrom of attention and expectation.
‘But she didn’t. She nailed it. To my shock and dismay, though, there were a few boos in the audience when I suggested in my critique that she should win the show.
‘I realised then that she probably wouldn’t win, that the bubble had indeed burst right at the last minute, that the British public – as Simon had feared – had grown a little bored and irritated by Boyle mania…’
Morgan continued: ‘And Susan was fantastically generous and modest in defeat, while reserving the right to do one last wiggle on stage.
‘The next day, I was asked to call Susan because she was “exhausted and upset”. We spoke for half an hour,
and she admitted, “I’m so tired, I need to get away from all this for a while.”
“‘You were brilliant last night,” I said. “I didn’t win, though. Will I still be able to have a career as a singer?”
“‘Of course you will,” I replied, truthfully. “And remember that your dream was never to win this show, it was to sing professionally.”
“‘That’s true, it is. It’s all I have ever wanted to do.”
‘She was undeniably jittery and erratic in that conversation. There was laughter and tears, excitement and sadness. She had been through an unprecedented two months.
“‘Are you glad you came on the show?” I asked.
“‘I am,” she said. “Even the way I feel now, I am.”’
Morgan was to add elsewhere, ‘It is probably a good thing all round that Susan didn’t win and can be under the radar for a bit. It is not a very serious matter, she is just exhausted and needs some rest.’
That view was echoed by Amanda Holden, who said in a television interview, ‘I understand that we’ve spoken to her doctors and they really have reassured us that there are no underlying mental issues and it is purely just that she’s knackered, for want of a better word.
‘And I think as we all keep saying, to have been thrust into such a media circus for seven weeks – it’s hard enough for me, Piers and Simon to deal with, let alone somebody that’s had absolutely no experience.’
She defended the way contestants for the show were
assessed and said more psychological screenings of contestants would be impractical. ‘You can’t kind of give every single person who’s just an auditioner that kind of long-winded attention,’ she told
GMTV
.
‘But I think that what was done for Susan was the right thing to have done. I know that they’ve kind of checked her out and they’ve spoken to people in her village and there was no reason that we needed to check her for anything else, and I still agree with that.
‘All these shows take great care, and there are rules and standards that we all have to stick by. And I know that we care very much about Susan and so the right people are looking after her now.’
And she was to add, ‘It’s taken its toll on her. She’s gone from a woman who nobody knew to worldwide fame. For anybody in the business to handle that kind of stress is an enormous pressure and she probably has just crumbled under it. She will just need some time to recuperate, to rest. Actually, it’s probably a blessing that she didn’t win because the spotlight’s not so heavily on her.’
Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond, who had been sending messages of good luck to Susan during the past weeks, was also concerned, saying
BGT
should ‘probably’ take better care of its contestants.
He told BBC Radio Scotland’s ‘Morning Extra’ that Boyle’s performance in Saturday’s final, after weeks of intense media scrutiny, was a ‘triumph’.
‘I’m just wondering, could anybody really stand up to
that sort of pressure, particularly when you’re not used to it, and not have a few difficulties with it?’ he said. ‘Does that mean we shouldn’t have shows like that? No, I think that show,
Britain’s Got Talent
, gives people an opportunity and a chance and I doubt you would find a contestant who said, “No, I didn’t want to have a go and take my chance.” Should they take care of their contestants a bit better? Yes, they probably should.’
Susan’s brother Gerry’s views that weekend were different. ‘They just left her on her own. She has got a short fuse and she just blew. Who wouldn’t under that pressure? She’s told me, “I feel tired and stressed,” and that’s understandable. The people at
Britain’s Got Talent
have been guilty of not dealing properly with a situation that’s quite unique. You have to remember she’s had to deal with television and the press, which she’s never done before, on her own. They should have done a better job. They sent her into the lions’ den totally unprepared. They shoved her out there and made her accessible and then sat back and watched while they got free publicity.’
He added, after she was taken to The Priory, ‘She started feeling extremely anxious on Sunday afternoon. Later that day she had what you and I would call a panic attack. She has been away from home all week and was very lonely and in all honesty very homesick. Susan panicked because the show had come to an end and she did not know what the future held for her. There are no
contracts on the table and she hadn’t spoken to Cowell properly.’
Gerry did subsequently remark, after Susan had time to settle in at The Priory, ‘She sounded a bit happier, she sounded a bit more like herself, but certainly a bit more rested and she seems to be coming home.
‘I think her friends in America would call this an anxiety attack. She’s been on a tremendous rollercoaster. There’s been an enormous amount of media speculation and intense activity.
‘She’s not used to that. She’s coming to terms with that now that she’s no longer an anonymous face. I think what led up to it was the build-up to the show and just psyching herself up for that and then wondering after the show “where do I go now?”.’
Brother John commented, ‘The past six weeks have been a dream for her but also very tiring. I fully expect her to be back home in a couple of days and playing with her cat.
‘She is a very highly strung lady and she feels like she’s let people down. But it is a nonsense. She needs a good rest and reassurance that her future is guaranteed. Six weeks ago it was a dream and it still is a dream and it’s come true.
‘She feels like she has let Blackburn down. She definitely hasn’t, but that is obviously what she thinks. She is worried about how people will feel about her. She doesn’t realise how much people love her.
‘This is the best place for her. She is exhausted, but she is doing fine and needs her family and friends around her.’
But it wasn’t just those who were close to
BGT
or Susan who had views on her condition and the effect her fame had had on her.
Messages of support flooded in from ‘ordinary’ people around the world, worried about her health and her state of mind, as well as from those in the public eye. In addition, there were many better-informed on the pressures she had been under, who too were concerned.
Mark Borkowski, the publicist and author of
The Fame Formula: How Hollywood’s Fixers, Fakers and Star Makers Created the Celebrity Industry
, said, ‘This is the modern equivalent of a freak show. I’m one of the few people who didn’t feel that she had much of a future. You can’t pluck somebody with those issues and fix them overnight… We are beginning to see more and more people who are casualties of the process.’
He added, ‘When you need to buy time, you shove someone in The Priory. They want this woman to be fit and are hoping she will come through the other side. If they get this right, she could make millions. But at what personal cost?’
Amy Clarke of Mencap – the highly-respected charity for those with learning difficulties and their families – said, ‘Sometimes people with a learning disability, like me, find it harder to communicate and get used to new things. Susan Boyle’s life has changed overnight and she,
like anyone else, should have the right support to deal with this kind of pressure. Someone with a learning disability might need support dealing with new situations and communicating their feelings in an appropriate way.’
But she also said, ‘I like the fact that someone with a learning disability has done well on a talent show. Susan Boyle is an inspiration to me because you rarely see people with a learning disability on television and making a success in showbiz.’
Andrew McCulloch, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, said, ‘As a result of taking part in
Britain’s Got Talent
, Susan Boyle has received an unprecedented amount of attention. Considering that she has also had to cope with the pressure of taking part in a national television competition it is understandable that Susan is feeling exhausted. The experience can be overwhelming, especially for somebody who is not used to living in the spotlight. Reality television programmes and the media can very quickly propel people who lead very ordinary lives into a world that is unfamiliar and fast-paced. It is only right that Susan is being supported at this time and is getting the care she needs.’
The debate came as a survey of more than 3,000 Britons found that seven out of ten people believed Susan should not have been allowed to perform, while six out of ten said ITV exploited her to bolster viewing numbers.
Media regulator Ofcom received a ‘large number of
complaints’ about the situation. Section eight of the broadcasting code states: ‘People in a state of distress should not be put under pressure to take part in a programme or provide interviews, unless it is warranted.’ But the
Britain’s Got Talent
production company said no pressure had been put on Susan to perform in the final; it had been entirely her decision.
The row continued and Culture Secretary Andy Burnham questioned whether TalkbackThames and ITV had exercised their ‘duty of care’ towards Susan. Mr Burnham said there should be a ‘process of discussion’ with ITV in order to establish what happened but emphasised broadcasters must take care of people such as Susan. ‘We are living in a world where it is not just about what happens on telly on a Saturday night. There is 360-degree scrutiny, 365 days a year. We need to look after people, not just around the camera. Broadcasters should always put people’s welfare first.’