Susan Boyle made a comeback yesterday evening on the Britain's Got Talent stage following a secret health battle.
The 62-year-old singer from West Lothian took to the stage to perform none other than her own 2009 BGT audition song I Dreamed A Dream alongside the cast of Les Misérables at the final last night which saw Norwegian comedian Viggo Venn take the crown.
SuBo has taken a break from the spotlight in recent years after her last album in 2019. During her return to the stage last night, the star revealed that she had suffered a stroke in April last year which left her fearful she wouldn't be able to sing again.
However, she still impressively managed to deliver a very moving performance and was dubbed "unbelievable" by the show's main judge, Simon Cowell.
Similarly to her health, the star likes to keep other aspects of her private life out of the public eye including her romantic relationships as she shares very little about herself.
Here we take a closer look at how the Scottish singer rose to fame, and some of the rare times Susan has opened up about more intimate details of her life.
Rise to fame
Susan rose to fame when she auditioned in Glasgow for Britain's Got Talent in 2009 and her outstanding rendition of Les Misérables I Dreamed A Dream went viral.
The Blackburn-born singer did not look like your typical popstar when she took the stage for the first time 14 years ago as she shocked the judges and the nation with her incredible voice.
Susan went on to finish second place to dance group Diversity on the third series of the show, but is still one of the BGT's best ever contestants and is a huge credit to the success the show has achieved.
She went on to release her first album I Dreamed A Dream which featured a live track of her famous audition. It went on to become the year's best selling album with over 10 million copies sold worldwide.
Council house
The Scottish singing sensation has since released seven albums and earned an estimated £22million following her BGT success which for most would spark a huge lifestyle change.
However, the humble star has always kept to her roots, and despite her millions she still stays in the exact same West Lothian council house she has resided in for almost 60 years.
Susan bought the semi-detached house next door to her for £111,000 and combined them together to make her own dream home.
She previously explained that her home holds a lot of precious memories for her and she couldn't bear to live it behind.
Speaking to OK! she said: "It’s to do with the memories of your house and your upbringing, you need to take stock of things and maybe see where you come from and where your roots lie.
"It’s best to be grounded and with your roots. It keeps you grounded and prevents you from saying things maybe you shouldn't say."
Love life and 'biggest regret'
Very little is known about Susan's romantic life apart from the fact that the 62-year-old has never married and admitted her "biggest regret" was never having children of her own.
The Scottish singer told Lady Magazine in a candid interview that she would love to become a foster mother but wasn't allowed to. She revealed: "I've a lovely house, why not share it? I love children. I've never had any of my own, that's my biggest regret."
It's not currently clear if Susan is dating anyone at the moment as she tends to keep her love life away from the spotlight.
SuBo previously admitted that she has ruled out marriage in her life as she believes she had left it "too long", the Sun reports.
The last man she was publicly connected to was an American doctor around 2016, whom she went out on a few dates with but she admitted at the time that it wasn't anything too "serious".
However, she never disclosed the man's identity as she said it would be "unfair" to put him in the spotlight.
She told Lady Magazine: "I did have a gentleman friend, a doctor. We went for lunch but I didn't tell anyone.
"But if I had a man friend it would be purely platonic - I've been on my own too long now to get married.
"I don’t want to say any more about who he is right now as that would be unfair. We are around the same age and he was a nice guy."
Secret health battle
Susan made a shock announcement at the Britain's Got Talent final last night as she revealed to presenters Ant and Dec that she had suffered from a minor stroke last April.
The singer seemingly battled out her illness in private and was thrilled to be able to take to the stage last night to perform her own BGT audition single I Dreamed A Dream.
The 62-year-old said the performance was "extra special" to her as she had feared she would never sing again following the stroke.
When Declan Donnelly asked her what it was like to be back on stage, she smiled and replied: "It feels great! It's extra special for me actually because last April there I suffered a minor stroke and I thought it would be crazy to be back on stage and I have done it!"
However, it seems Susan's poor health was maybe not as much as a secret in the celebrity world as Simon Cowell confirmed he knew she wasn't well as he thanked her for coming.
Speaking of her performance, the talent judge said: "Unbelievable, Susan we owe you so much and I knew you weren't well but if anyone was going to come back you were going to come back because we wouldn't be the same without you! You are amazing."
Mental health breakdown
Susan Boyle was tormented by mental health problems for years prompted by losing Britain's Got Talent in 2009.
The 58-year-old singer lost out to dance group Diversity 10 years ago, despite wowing audiences with her incredible talent, and the humiliation resulted in a public breakdown.
Susan, who was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome in 2013, told Lorraine Kelly on her ITV show in 2019: "I feel a lot better now, thank you. I've had my moments when I've needed help, and I've reached out and got the help I needed, and I can only thank them for my recovery."
She added: "I've got a brilliant team. I've got a great vocal coach, a great PA. My publicist, she's fantastic. I love them."
Susan told how her mental health battle nearly led to her quitting BGT in the middle of the series.
"I was all set to quit the show. You've got a lot of pressure and a lot of different things going at once. It is difficult," she told Nine News
Her autism diagnosis came as a huge relief to Susan, who for years believed she had "quite serious brain damage".
“[With] Asperger's you just have to make people aware that sometimes you have to go at a certain pace, don't be too bombarded with things. At the very beginning I was too bombarded," she added.
"It's nothing to be ashamed of. Everybody has something. I mean, a flaw, if you like. But you shouldn't be ashamed of it. It's something that you bring out in the open in the hope that you help other people. I like to feel I'm the voice for people who have been the underdog, and I wanted to try and prove myself."
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