A helping hand for SuBo: 'Emotional' Susan Boyle reassured by her friendly manager

By Ben Todd and Richard Simpson

Helping hand: An anxious Susan Boyle is comforted by her manager Andy Stephens as they drink coffee in Nice airport


She has buckled under the pressure of becoming a worldwide phenomenon with increasing regularity in recent months, suffering very public anxieties and breakdowns.

But Susan Boyle has clearly found a soothing hand to calm and comfort her as she attempts to cope with her whirlwind rise from obscurity to musical superstardom.

The man gently putting an emotional Miss Boyle at ease at Nice airport in the South of France yesterday is her confidant and manager Andy Stephens.

The pair touch hands across the table and at one point Mr Stephens reaches out to give the singer a comforting pat. It seems to do the trick as they both manage a laugh.

There is no suggestion that Miss Boyle's relationship with her manager is anything but professional.

But the Daily Mail has learned that the 48-year-old spinster has become 'enchanted' with Mr Stephens, a renowned figure in the music industry.

The married father of two, from North London, is well-schooled in looking after stars. George Michael was his client for ten years and he also managed Geri Halliwell.


A lighter moment: Stephens and Boyle share a joke


However, Mr Stephens, 59, is known for being fiercely loyal to his wife. Friends say he will be acting purely to help support his highly emotional - yet hugely valued - client who is known as SuBo to her fans.

A close friend said: 'Andy has been a true rock for Susan. She's found huge fame very quickly and it has been a burden. But Andy has helped her through.

'He is also a very handsome older man. He's had plenty of admirers over the years and Susan has become enchanted by him but, unlike so many in showbiz, Andy has always remained an utterly devoted family man. And that's not going to change.'


Comforting: Stephens reaches over to pat Boyle's hand


Mr Stephens has been paying particularly close attention to Miss Boyle since he started representing her last year, because of her delicate and emotional character.

Indeed, the Daily Mail has learned that the singer collapsed at Heathrow en route to the South of France on Tuesday, fainting in the British Airways Club Lounge before the morning flight to Nice.

Miss Boyle, who was treated in the Priory clinic after suffering a breakdown over the pressure of performing on the ITV show Britain's Got Talent last year, was given medical attention before eventually being allowed to board the plane.

Hours later, after a short trip across the border into Italy, she gave a brave performance of her signature song, I Dreamed A Dream, at the 60th San Remo Festival before returning to Nice.


That's better: A confident Boyle singing at the San Remo Italian Song Festival in Sanremo, Italy on Tuesday
One passenger who saw the episode at Heathrow said: 'It was very dramatic. Susan's legs just gave way under her and she went down.'

A spokesman for the singer said: 'Susan did faint at Heathrow as she overheated in the lounge because it was so warm. However, she is fine now and gave a fantastic performance at the festival.'

The incident comes weeks after Miss Boyle threw a tantrum in the British Airways VIP lounge at Heathrow while on her way to Chicago to film an interview with Oprah Winfrey, shouting obscenities and trying to polish a passenger's shoes with a mop.

The singer has stayed in her home town of Blackburn, West Lothian, despite her album I Dreamed A Dream topping the charts in Britain and America. She is set to earn at least £5million from record sales alone.


source: dailymail