Revealed, Cheryl’s collapse on TV (funny that the new X Factor starts tonight!)

By Sara Nathan and Liz Thomas

Exhausted: Cheryl Cole collapsed on the sofa during the filming of X-Factor


She was so quiet during the auditions that it was obvious to the audience something was wrong.

Determined to carry on with the show, Cheryl Cole had taken her place on the X Factor judging panel and tried to ignore the pain she was experiencing.

But as these pictures - handily released just in time to publicise the start of the seventh series tonight - show, it soon all became too much for the star.


She found herself forced to rest her head on her hands before retiring backstage to the Green Room.

There she lay on a couch, wrapped up in a hooded jumper as she started to suffer from the high temperature, headache and shivers that signify malaria.

Tasteless or not, this evening millions of ITV viewers will see these first images of Mrs Cole during the Cardiff round of auditions just hours before she collapsed at a photoshoot and was subsequently diagnosed with the tropical disease.

She is seen telling her fellow judges, Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh and guest
judge, singer Pixie Lott: 'I don't feel well at all. I am definitely coming down with something.' Cowell asks her 'Are you ill?'


A tired Cheryl Cole keeps her head down during last year's filming of X Factor


Mrs Cole, 27, caught the disease while on a four-day break to Tanzania with her close friend, dancer Derek Hough.

She was forced to spend two weeks in hospital before recuperating at her £ 6million Surrey mansion.

The singer then flew to Los Angeles to continue her recovery, where she remains on holiday with Hough.

This week she spoke publicly for the first time about her battle with malaria, telling fans that she was 'raring' to get back to work.


On or Hough? Close friend Derek has been looking after ill Cheryl throughout her period of recovery in LA


She will make her comeback next month as she picks her finalists for the contest and said: 'I'm absolutely gutted I missed the last audition and the boot camp stage, but I am really excited and really looking forward to seeing what the other judges have chosen.

'I can't wait to get my category so I can get my teeth into it. I will be raring to go.'

The Daily Mail told how the brunette, whose divorce from her footballer husband Ashley Cole will be final by the time the live X Factor shows start in October, has been told to change her diet and reduce her hectic work schedule.

Doctors believe the Girls Aloud star has found it harder to get better because her immune system is extremely weak.

She had worked herself to the bone during a gruelling music tour at the same time as filming X Factor auditions - and at times had found it hard to have a proper meal during the day, instead relying on sweets and Coke for an energy boost.


The new series of The X Factor begins at 7.30pm on Saturday on ITV1


And Simon Cowell is still keen to ensure that Mrs Cole does not overdo things. An X Factor source said: 'Simon has told Cheryl that her health is of the utmost importance.

They have a long stint on this show as it runs up until Christmas and he wants her to be well and look after herself.'

Mrs Cole split from her cheating husband in February after a tumultuous three-and-a-half-year marriage.

After enduring more than a week of humiliating revelations about the Chelsea defender's serial betrayals, the X Factor judge finally declared their union was over.

Cole's cheating was exposed when it was revealed that explicit pictures of him had been sent from his phone to Page Three girl Sonia Wild.


source: dailymail