Sinead O’Connor Reveals Her Mother Abused Her in Intimate ‘Dr. Phil’ Interview

After worrying fans about her mental state last month, Sinead O’Connor gets candid in a sit-down with Dr. Phil McGraw.

In a preview of the personal interview, the 50-year-old singer spoke about her struggles as a child, claiming her late mother, Marie O’Connor, abused her both physically and sexually.

“She ran a torture chamber,” the controversial singer claimed. “She was a person who took delight in hurting you.” Marie died in a car crash when O’Connor was 19 years old.

Between clips of her interaction with Dr. Phil, O’Connor sang a stripped-down version of her 1990 No. 1 hit, “Nothing Compares 2 U.”

“When you were 21, you had the number one song in the world,” Dr. Phil said, to which O’Connor replied, “But I also felt like an imposter.”

Dr. Phil also addressed the singer’s mental health, confirming that she tried to kill herself eight times in one year.

In August, the singer posted a video to her personal Facebook page claiming she was suicidal and living in a New Jersey motel.

“I’m all by myself. And there’s absolutely nobody in my life except my doctor, my psychiatrist—the sweetest man on earth, who says I’m his hero—and that’s about the only f—ing thing keeping me alive at the moment… and that’s kind of pathetic,” she said in the message.

“I’m not staying alive for me. If it was just for me I’d be gone. Straight away back to my mum,” she continued. “Because I’ve walked this earth alone for two years now as punishment for being mentally f—ing ill and getting angry that no one would f—ing take care of me.”

When Dr. Phil sat down with Jimmy Kimmel on Wednesday, he said O’Connor reached out to him first about an on-air interview.

“You’ve seen her video she’s posted on Facebook and all, from motel rooms in New Jersey,” he said on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. “She really has had a difficult time, and she said, ‘Look, I’m in trouble. I need help.’ And she called. She said, ‘I want to destigmatize mental illness; I clearly have a problem… Too many musicians are dying. I want to use my life, be a teaching tool. I’m willing to sit down and talk.’”

O’Connor’s interview is set to air September 12 on Dr. Phil.