Susan Boyle reveals she was beaten by her father

Britain’s Got Talent star Susan Boyle has opened up about her traumatic childhood, revealing that her father used to hit her.

“My father, though a very good man, had a temper,” the 55-year-old singer told the Mail on Sunday. “He showed it to me and he hurt me.

“He didn’t mean to, but I held onto this for years and, when he was dying, I had to let it go. You have to accept it. That’s maturity.

Susan’s dad was a miner who moved from Ireland to Scotland and served in the Second World War as a sergeant major in the Royal Engineers. He died in 1997, ten years after her mum Bridget.

“It’s not easy, but you have to let it go and replace it with a new self. That’s what I’ve been focussing on over the past six months. It’s difficult. I’ve been coming to terms with it.”

A close family friend confirmed that the star had suffered abuse at the hands of her dad, saying: “Yes, her dad was heavy handed. It was due to his time in the war.”

Since coming second on Britain’s Got Talent in 2009, the Scottish singer has racked up an estimated £25million fortune – but still lives in the modest family home where she was brought up in Blackburn, West Lothian.

She’s about to release a new album of romantic songs called A Wonderful World, with the songs hand-picked for her by Simon Cowell.

But despite the subject matter, Susan herself is still single – although she does keep in touch with a doctor she met in Florida.

“Potentially it’s not finished,” she said. “I’d like to see him more. But I’m very busy and it’s been a long time. But I would like someone. I’m very sensitive… [but] sometimes I can be hard to get.”