Boyle Fears Career May Go Bust

Susan Boyle wants to leave the London mental health clinic she's in and go home to Scotland, and is concerned her career may be over almost before it's started, her brother said on The Early Show Tuesday.

The dowdy Boyle, 48, became an overnight singing sensation when she auditioned for the reality show "Britain's Got Talent." But she finishing second, behind a male dance group, in the "BGT" finals on Saturday and, reports CBS News correspondent Richard Roth,was admitted to the Priory Hospital on Sunday.

Various British tabloids, Roth observes, are claiming "with varying degrees of credibility" that Boyle's hospitalization came after she broke down after talking to an imaginary friend, or after she fainted, worried about her cat, or after she collapsed, convulsed in tears.

The British press has found Boyle certainly does have talent -- selling papers, Roth notes.

But Boyle's brother, Gerry Boyle, told Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith his sister "seems to be coming back to her old ways. And she's fine. She's anxious to come home, and she's starting to be a bit more like herself, I'm pleased to say -- eager to come home to Scotland from London, and just, you know -- she seems to be on the way back. Which is marvelous."

Gerry revealed Boyle's "biggest worry, after Saturday night, is ... where does her career go from here? Will she be still accepted? She didn't win the competition. Will people still want to hear her sing? And will there be a career for her as we stand here today?"

Asked directly whether his sister had suffered some sort of mental collapse, Gerry responded, "Anxieties were high. I think, you know, seven weeks of, not pressure, but certainly media-intensified attention, you know, someone who's used to the media would find that difficult. And I think eventually exhaustion, worrying about the outcome of the competition, and anxiety just took (their) toll."

What Susan needs most now, he said, is to "return from London to Edinburgh ... (to) come home to Blackburn, be at home for a couple of days. You know, be reunited with the now world-famous Pebbles cat, and have a good cup of Scottish tea, and then, you know, have a couple of days just to come back to normality, and then perhaps hear from the people who want to work with her, see if there's any offers on the table, just establish where does her career go from here? But in the immediate few days, just have a couple of days off, Susan, and rewind and gather your thoughts and you'll be fine."

Gerry said neither he nor his sister think she was exploited by the media, as some critics have suggested. "It's marvelous to have all this attention," he said, "to have all these warm feelings coming from across the country, across America, from, let's face it -- Susan seven weeks ago was simply a little lady from Scotland, and you know, she's very grateful that the opportunities are now opening up for her. ... hopefully, in the next few days, but I wouldn't say the media exploited her. I think the media, as we look back, Susan will realize the media give her an opportunity."

Still, clinical psychologist Dr. James Oliver remarked to CBS News that, "Producers will pick the flakiest, most exotic eccentric, strange people -- some of whom are a bit depressed, some of whom lack identity and are very weird, and they will be put on the reality TV shows because, I'm sorry to say, (people) want to watch them."

Some reports say Susan suffered oxygen deprivation at birth and is learning disabled.

The "BGT" final round Saturday night was the most-watched program in Britain in five years. Critics now are saying its producers should have been watching more closely for signs their star was in trouble, Roth points out.