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Susan Boyle reveals shock health diagnosis

Tough news for the star
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Susan Boyle has opened up in a rare interview about her struggles with fame and being thrust into the spotlight following her Britian’s Got Talent success, and how she almost gave up on her singing career.

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But how everything changed when she was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome.

WATCH: Susan Boyle reveals how she learnt to cope with her fame. 

“I was all set to quit the show,” Susan, 58, told Tracy Grimshaw on Tuesday night’s episode of A Current Affair.

“You’ve got a lot of pressure and a lot of different things going at once. It is difficult.”

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Susan’s life was turned upside down when she won Britain’s Got Talent in 2009, with her spine-tingling rendition of ‘I Dreamed a Dream’.

Everything became too much for the star, who was 48 at the time and had lived her whole life in a small Scottish town. 

Susan Boyle
(Credit: Channel 9)

Things improved for Susan in 2012 when she was diagnosed with a form of autism called Asperger’s Syndrome.  

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“That was just a relief for me, though, because for years I thought I had something a bit more serious, you know? So that took it off my shoulders a bit,” she said, explaining that she had previously thought 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 explained.

“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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Susan explained that her diagnosis means she sometimes finds it difficult to communicate in the same was as other people. 

“If people give you a bit more time — like you did, thank you — I can eventually get my words out and I’m OK,” the singer explained. 

Susan, who has recently released her album TEN, is about to tour the UK, says she feels better than ever.

“I just want to keep entertaining people,” she told Tracey. “Making albums. Touring. I’m as happy as anything.”

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