Sunday April 19, 2009

Susan Boyle’s brother has revealed how the Britain’s Got Talent star was obsessed with Donny Osmond when she was a teenager.

Speaking to the UK’s Daily Mirror, Gerard Boyle, 53, tells how bullied Susan — who became a global sensation after performing I Dreamed a Dream on the British TV talent show — would lock herself in her room with her record player because she had no friends to play with.

“Susan was what you would call a loner,” he said. “She was happiest on her own, playing her records and losing herself in music. She didn’t really interact with other children.

“She was seen as different because she didn’t have the same interests as kids her age. As a teenager she was never into make-up or boys.

(Watch Simon Cowell discussing Boyle)

“She was easily upset. She’d take nasty comments literally so found it hard to make friends or develop relationships outside the family.

“Eventually she retreated into her own world. Music became her thing. When she was a girl she was obsessed with Donny Osmond.

(See Susan make her debut on American TV)

“His posters were all over her walls. She would lock herself in her room and play the records over and over again singing along as loud as possible. It used to drive me mad when I would hear it start up the hundredth time. But our mum would say ‘Leave her alone, it’s all she’s got’.”

“Looking back now I realize that was how she honed her skills, as she’d stand in front of the mirror in her bedroom for hours singing the songs until she’d achieved perfection.”

Tags: susan boyle, susan boyle britain's got talent