Marie Osmond Credits Jimmy With Turning Her Life Around

MARIE OSMOND has credited her brother JIMMY with pulling her out of a severe depression in the wake of her second divorce, insisting he 'saved her life'.

The singer split from her record producer husband Brian Blosil in 2007 after almost twenty years of marriage, and subsequently fell into a downward spiral of despair.

Marie is adamant it was her younger brother Jimmy who helped her recover from the divorce, supporting her emotionally and financially as she came to grips with being a single mum of eight.

She says, 'Gradually, I came to the sad but inescapable conclusion that something was essentially wrong with my marriage. When your children start telling you to leave, it's time to go. It was an unbelievably tough decision, though. Jimmy's the one who saved my life. When I went through the whole mess, he not only took me under his wing, he carried me financially while my assets were frozen.

'I was so beaten down by then. I'd been told (by Brian) that my career was all washed up, that my voice was anyway average at best. My self-esteem was on the floor. Jimmy turned to me one day and simply said: 'I want my sister back.' He's an angel.'

Osmond was previously married to basketball player Stephen Craig.

--IANS-WENN