Susan Boyle by John McShane

Author:John McShane [McShane, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781843582106
Publisher: John Blake
Published: 2011-05-07T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

REALITY BITES

The bookmakers had Susan as their firm favourite to walk off with the Britain’s Got Talent title, and bookmakers are not in the habit of making too many mistakes.

Despite the problems of the week leading up to the final, the outbursts – real, imaginary or exaggerated – the flight to the safe house and the strange behaviour, Susan was still the one to beat in the eyes of the men and women who set the odds.

One supporter from Devon backed her to win to the tune of £7,000. Over £3 million in total was placed on the outcome of the contest – an amazing example of how reality TV betting, which had taken off with the arrival of Big Brother, was now big business.

The FA Cup final 2009 between Chelsea and Everton coincided with the day of the BGT final and they were now equal in their importance to the bookmakers.

A spokesman for one of the large bookmakers said, ‘Five years ago the idea of a TV programme competing with the FA Cup final would have been laughable, but now we’ve given them equal space.

‘Big Brother got the ball rolling and that really changed betting in quite a big way,’ he said. ‘All the reality television that came after that, from your Pop Idol to The X Factor and now Britain’s Got Talent, brought in a completely new betting clientele. People who wouldn’t have dreamt of putting a bet on the horses or a football match, but reality TV was something they knew about.’

William Hill was offering odds of 10/11 after a surge in betting and a spokesman said, ‘We briefly offered Susan Boyle at 11/10 – a price that proved too tempting for punters. As far as we are concerned she just needs to turn up to win this.’

The judges, too, were ultra-supportive. Simon Cowell revealed that he’d had a heart-to-heart with the nervous songbird, assuring her protection against any threat to her health, telling her, ‘You’ve come so far, don’t give up on your dream now. I have never known anything like this in my whole career.

‘I just wanted to make sure she was OK. I told her I would help her in any way I can. She has earned the right to be in that final and I didn’t want her to miss out on her big night.’

Amanda Holden said, ‘She will definitely be in the final. She won’t let the pressure get to her and she’ll do a great job. Hopefully she will sing “I Dreamed A Dream”, which is what everybody would love her to do. She’s not going to quit. I think she did have her bags packed at one stage, but I think basically that was just because she was feeling so sad and upset.

‘You can’t train somebody in four weeks to handle this kind of attention. She is under a lot of pressure but no one can blame her – I still think she could win it.’

Piers Morgan was even more up-front.

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