Malaria-hit Cole axes X Factor and festival gigs

CHERYL Cole has pulled out of next month's V Festival and the boot camp stage of The X Factor due to her ongoing battle with malaria, a spokeswoman for the singer said last night.

The 27-year-old star contracted the disease on a trip to Tanzania last month, despite taking malaria tablets.

"Cheryl Cole is making good progress but following medical advice she will not be able to take part in X Factor's boot camp stage or perform at V," her spokeswoman said.

A spokesman for The X Factor said: "Our priority is to ensure Cheryl is fit and well before she returns to work and to give our contestants a fair and proper opportunity to compete in the show."

It is not yet known if a guest judge will be brought in to help with boot camp.

Cole's illness had already forced her to pull out of the final auditions for the television talent show in Manchester.

Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh were joined by Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger, who had been recruited to stand in for judge Dannii Minogue, who gave birth to her first child, a son named Ethan, last week.

Before Friday's auditions, Walsh said: "Cheryl's not well but we have another pop princess here today."

Scherzinger told the audience: "I'm sorry Cheryl is not with us but she's here in spirit and I will try to hold the girl power down."

Cole was reported to have collapsed during a photoshoot for her album on 3 July. She was rushed to hospital the next day after her symptoms, including a soaring fever, worsened.

The singer was treated in intensive care at University College London Hospital, home to the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, but on Friday was considered well enough to be transferred to a private clinic.