Susan Boyle Is The Real Life Ugly Betty

A homely woman from a Scottish village taking London by storm is about as likely as a homely girl from the barrio in Queens thriving in Manhattan. The more we think about it, Susan Boyle is the real-life Ugly Betty.

Despite the fact that over 26 million people have viewed her audition on YouTube, Britian’s Got Talent’s breakout superstar Susan Boyle has rejected the idea of getting a makeover.

“Maybe I’ll consider a makeover later on,” she tells the Times Online. “For now I’m happy the way I am — short and plump. I would not go in for Botox or anything like that. I’m content with the way I look. What’s wrong with looking like Susan Boyle? What’s the matter with that?”

The comparisons don’t end there. Boyle’s mom died a few years ago just like the fictitious Betty’s. In fact, Boyle says she chose her Britian’s Got Talent debut song, “I Dreamed A Dream,” from Les Miserable because it reminds her of her mother whom she lived with and cared for until her death.

Since her mother’s death, the fictitious American Betty lives with her dad in Queens and is remarkably close to her family. Susan tells the Times she has no desire to move to a big city, citing her family in Scotland as responsible for keeping her feet on the ground. She may have suffered mild brain damage during childbirth, but Susan seems pretty smart, to us. Perhaps there’s a Forrest Gump comparison in there, too?

And while Betty thrives in the fashion world despite having no background in or natural affinity for the topic, Susan is an internet phenomenon despite the fact that SHE DOESN’T OWN A COMPUTER OR CELL PHONE. Sorry, but that’s kind of more shocking to us than her singing voice, which is marvelous.

What sets Susan and Betty apart from other shrinking violets is that they overcome their awkwardness by using it to stand out.

Boyle is aware that some of the cynicism that greeted her arrival on stage at the Britain’s Got Talent audition stemmed from her frumpy appearance. She wore a gold lace dress that she’d bought for her nephew’s wedding but left her unruly hair uncombed and her face free of make-up. “I know what they were thinking but why should it matter as long as I can sing? It’s not a beauty contest,” she says.

Her conscious decision to forego wearing makeup on television shows a PR savvy far more developed than many would give her credit for at first blush. (No pun.) Much like Betty’s choice to wear that poncho on the first day of work, Susan’s remark about never having been kissed was an exaggeration spoken to perpetuate an image, as well.

“Oh, I was just joking around,” she says, blushing. “It was just banter and it has been blown way out of proportion. I was about to go on stage and I was very nervous.”

It’s already been proven through the phenomenal success of Ugly Betty–which has been remade all over the world–that people can’t get enough of the ugly duckling story. Perhaps because, deep down, we all fear we are that ugly duckling. (Well, not us, but you people.) Can it be long before Hollywood is telling Susan’s story? We doubt it.