Talent 'has not exploited Boyle'

Boyle was the bookmakers' favourite to win Saturday night's final

Britain's Got Talent judge Amanda Holden has denied the show exploited Susan Boyle, saying she was "stressed out" by "falsehoods" written about her.

Holden told the Larry King Live show in the US that all acts who appeared were "extraordinarily well looked after".

Singer Boyle, the runner-up in this year's show, is being treated for exhaustion at London's Priory Clinic.

Simon Cowell's spokesman Max Clifford said the singer, who is due to go on tour next week, was "recovering well".

Global attention

Boyle, 48, from West Lothian, was taken to the clinic on Sunday - 24 hours after after she came second to dance act Diversity in the final of the ITV1 show.

I think she was just quite upset by all the exaggerated stories and falsehoods that were written about her Amanda Holden

She previously attracted millions of hits on video-sharing websites after she first performed I Dreamed A Dream at audition.

Holden said Britain's Got Talent was "a very loyal show".

She said Boyle, who has appeared on Oprah Winfrey's US TV programme, was getting "the best support she could possibly be getting at the moment".

"It was just in the last week that the downturn in press in our country, I think, maybe stressed her out a little bit and I think she was just quite upset by all the exaggerated stories and falsehoods that were written about her."

She said Boyle's brother had indicated the singer "wants to come home within a matter of days rather than weeks" and was "excited about the prospect of seeing what is out there".

On Monday, Gerry Boyle told the BBC reports that his sister's mental health problems had "been played up in the press".

"She tends to get a wee bit anxious, it's just part of her character," he said.

'Huge sales'

Mr Clifford said that Cowell was looking forward to working with Boyle when she got better and that she would have "potentially huge album sales, particularly in America".

"Provided she's given a few days and then allowed to be as normal as possible, she should be fine.

"All she wants to do is sing."

There is a need to look after people properly, not just in front of the camera but around the intense process Culture Secretary Andy Burnham

A decision has not yet been taken on whether Boyle will be fit enough for the 23-date Britain's Got Talent tour, which begins on Friday, 12 June.

Culture Secretary Andy Burnham, meanwhile, has said there is "a need to get better at that pastoral care" on reality TV shows.

"We're living in a world where you're not just on telly, you're under 360 degree scrutiny," he said.

"There is a need to look after people properly, not just in front of the camera but around the intense process."

But he stressed that "we have not... established that there was a failure here.

"ITV are a responsible broadcaster."