Whatever happened to Susan Boyle?

Ten years on from her sudden viral fame, what's SuBo up to these days? Photo / Getty Images

Ten years on from her sudden viral fame, not many people hear news of what Susan Boyle is up to these days.

To mark the release of her new album, Boyle sat down with The Sun for an exclusive interview.

She reveals, when she shot to fame, she wasn't prepared for it and didn't know how to cope with life in the spotlight.

Things have changed since then and she says she's ready now.

"I'm managing things a lot better now. It was a slow process. Everything is with me," Boyle said.

"But I'm coping inside a lot better now and I'm ready — more than ready — for what's coming."

The singer has been forthcoming about her struggles with mental health, as well as her diagnosis of Asperger's in 2013.

"It can be difficult to talk about mental health issues, as there is a kind of fear about that.

"Years ago there used to be a stigma about it but now there is more knowledge, more expertise, and talking about things makes it a lot easier. A lot easier."

Despite reportedly being worth a whopping $38 million, she likes her quiet, simple life, and hasn't changed much about it over the years.

"I just want to entertain people, I want to make them happy. Money doesn't bother me," she says.

"My life has changed in that I've got a lot of people around me, I've got a nicer house and stuff like that but those are material things. I think emotionally I've grown up with it."

When asked what her most extravagant purchase was, she says she did buy Chanel No5 perfume a few days ago. "I thought I'd be posh, you know."

She also owns a five-bed detached property in her home town of Blackburn, but is still living in the council house where she grew up.

"I'm still in my parents' house, my niece has got the plush house. I quite like it that way, it's good," she says.

"It's good to be in your mum's house as well, there are a lot of nice memories in my mum's. I sort of feel she's present here, somehow."

She still takes the bus everywhere and shops at the same old local supermarket.

"My whole community hasn't changed much but I have this sort of dual personality now. I'm a performer and an ordinary person, which is nice."

As for her love life, she says she is single and happy to be so. Single, not lonely.

She says she avoids social media at all costs and credits that with her current positive headspace.