The media has exploded today with tales of Susan Boyle’s ignorance. The Britain’s Got Talent singer became a world wide sensation last month when people heard her perform the Les Miserables song ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ but in true British style, those who lifted her to the heights of her notoriety have brought her back down with a crash. The red top newspapers which were once proclaiming Susan Boyle as all that was right about Britain, are now attacking her for being tactless and socially inept. I don’t know why that fact surprises them at all.

Britain’s Got Talent judge Piers Morgan has been so incensed by the media frenzy surrounding Boyle in recent days that he posted an article in defence of her on his blog today.

He asks people to imagine what it is like to be in Susan’s shoes saying:

Imagine, if you will, being anonymous for 47 years of your life, and then suddenly being propelled into genuine world superstardom.

Everywhere you go, people recognise you and want a piece of you – an autograph, a photo, a quick song, a chat to their mum on a mobile phone.

You can’t got out any more without being mobbed in the streets. You can’t nip down the supermarket for a pint of milk or go to the paper shop.

All the fun of being propelled into international acclaim starts to disappear. And you start to feel jittery, self-conscious, paranoid, and fractious.

Then imagine, too, having all this go on when you are days away from the final of a competition that can make or break your career and your life.

The papers have been reporting on the fact that Susan reportedly swore at the TV screen on Tuesday night when Piers Morgan proclaimed young Shaheen the best singer in the competition. It is a story that Susan denies and Piers says the tabloid coverage of it has made him very angry.

He wrote:

Susan Boyle is a very kind, generous-hearted, lady who has had a pretty tough life. She was deprived of oxygen during her birth, and that left her with ‘learning difficulties’, causing her to be called ‘Simple Susan’ at school.

She’s only been able to have one brief job in her life, but rather than feel sorry for herself she dedicated all her time to helping her ageing, ailing mother until she died two years ago.

He went on:

I’m not saying she’s a Saint. But I am saying that before all this fuss, Susan was generally considered by everyone who met her to be a genuinely lovely person. Albeit, one with a lively, feisty character, and a wonderfully eccentric sense of humour.

Susan is finding it very, very difficult to cope, and to stay calm.

She has been in tears many times during the last few days, and even, fleetingly, felt like quitting the show altogether at one point and fleeing all the attention.

It is unusual to hear a judge from a reality TV show asking people to show leniency for people with ‘learning difficulties’ when it is these exact people that provide prime fodder for the audition stages of their shows. However he is right. Susan may have kicked off, may have gotten too big for her boots but is it really her fault? She has lived all her life in a small town, a cloistered environment whilst struggling with learning difficulties. How on earth could she be expected to cope with the world’s media well? People loved Susan’s first audition because she was eccentric, she was out of the norm she wasn’t a plastic wannabe. Surely then people should cut her a bit of slack when she says the wrong thing or when she acts impulsively.

Piers makes a good point when he points out:

She’s not a mass murderer, a thieving banker, or an expense-fiddling politician.

She is two days away from the biggest day of her life, and all she wants to do is sing well for everyone and hopefully try and win.

If you don’t like Susan don’t vote for her, in fact I’d prefer it if she didn’t win, she is certainly not the most talented person on the show. But let’s not turn on a simple woman and call it entertainment, the current trend of trying to tear her to pieces leaves a very bitter taste in my mouth.