Susan Boyle may be a worldwide phenomenon now, but she once was the youngest of nine children, a shy, bullied girl who used music as an escape. As she geared up for her exclusive TV Guide Network concert special, I Dreamed a Dream: The Susan Boyle Story (re-airing Friday, April 2 at 8/7c with encores Saturday at 6/5c and Sunday at 8/7c), Boyle sat down with the creators of the special to relive each step of her inspirational journey. Here is her story, in her words.

"I'd watched Britain's Got Talent] on television, like everyone. And I had promised my mum that I would do something with my life just before she died. So I applied for it. ... I liked the Glaswegians on it when I saw it on the TV. But it was when I saw wee [choir singer] Faryl [Smith] that I thought "I could do that. I fancy that." Paul Potts was exceptional too. He was an inspiration to everybody, all the ordinary people like me that just enjoy singing. If you can do it when you're working in the Carphone Warehouse you can do it from anywhere."

"I went on stage and my knees were knocking, but I decided you either show nerves or you get cheeky with it. I said, 'Right, the cheek's the thing.' I introduced myself as Susan Boyle and that I'd like to be a professional singer like Elaine Paige. … Everything I said to the judges was completely unplanned. The Elaine Paige thing I'd thought of before because she's always been a favorite, but the carrying on and the swagger? I had no idea where that came from." I Dreamed a Dream: The Susan Boyle Story re-airs exclusively on TV Guide Network Friday, April 2 at 8/7c with encores Saturday at 6/5c and Sunday at 8/7c.

"I didn't know what YouTube was until I was in the record offices and saw the clip and the number of hits. I'm still trying to come to terms with it. The fans have been amazing, and the mail I have received: phenomenal. … A woman who went on with mad hair, bushy eyebrows and the frock I was wearing had to be noticed. Come on! … [It's] probably the fact that I'm an ordinary person who came from a poor background, and through fate and the help of a great team of people, I was able to rise up from that. I know it's a cliché but it's a bit of a Cinderella story."

"Oh, we were quite a squad, all with different abilities, but all very musical. My brother Joe was a songwriter, too. My dad used to sing. My mother sung and played piano. I have two sisters that are very good singers. We were a wee bit like the Von Trapps! There were guitars sitting about in the house and a piano, and we'd all experiment with them. We loved The Beatles in the '60s. I was just a wee lassie and we'd sit and watch Top of the Pops and wait for them and The Rolling Stones come on. My dad hated that program, so he used to turn it down. I used to turn it up just for devilment."

"The hype that went on I didn't really get. By the time the live shows happened, it was a bit surreal, really. Strangers writing to me every day. Everyone was really nice to me. Blackburn became kind of manic. There were satellite TV companies at my door every day. All the local kids were having a look to see what was going on. In some ways it was funny. The neighborhood turned out to be a very good community. They were very supportive. Nobody seemed to mean any harm. People would offer to do my shopping for me that I'd never spoken to in my life before."

"It was one of the most incredible things I've done in my life, if not the most incredible. When I was getting my make-up put on, Piers Morgan came in to say hello, and I've always had a soft spot for wee Piersy. He said 'You're a serious artist now.' It really feels like I am [an artist] now." I Dreamed a Dream: The Susan Boyle Story re-airs exclusively on TV Guide Network Friday, April 2 at 8/7c with encores Saturday at 6/5c and Sunday at 8/7c.

"Everyone was ever so good in my semi final. I didn't think there was anyone you could pick out as better than the others. It's a very hard show to judge. Then the fan mail snowballed and the whole thing went a bit chaotic. Everyone was very kind to me on the show. Ant and Dec were ever so nice. Piers and Simon were lovely."

"It's a song about determination. I am a determined woman, despite the bullying I've had in the past. It's a song about proving yourself as your own woman. I instantly loved that song. It's a song about knowing that whatever happens to you, you'll be alright."

"Even though the outwardness has changed, inside I'm still the same, but a bit more refined now in some ways. I keep reading that I've had all this Botox, and the teeth whitening, but I haven't had that at all! … There's always been a supermodel fighting to get out of the wee wifey! Well, not quite. But everyone's put a lot of work in, and I can't believe the way that I've looked in some photos. It's like looking at a different person that the one I was this time last year."I Dreamed a Dream: The Susan Boyle Story re-airs exclusively on TV Guide Network Friday, April 2 at 8/7c with encores Saturday at 6/5c and Sunday at 8/7c.