Doctors warn Cheryl Cole could miss X Factor for six months

Cheryl Cole could miss the entire series of The X Factor after doctors warned it may take her six months to recover from malaria.

The singer spent two hours in intensive care after being diagnosed with the deadly disease.

Cole, 27, was taken to the emergency unit at the Cromwell Hospital and was transferred to the Hospital for Tropical Diseases for specialist care.

She was forced to pull out of the last in the current series of X Factor auditions last night after contracting malaria on a trip last month to Tanzania — despite taking malaria tablets. The singer spent six days with close friend Derek Hough on Africa's east coast following her split from footballer husband Ashley.

Cole is reported to have collapsed during a photoshoot for her album on Saturday afternoon. She was diagnosed with exhaustion but was rushed to hospital the next day after her symptoms, including a soaring fever, worsened.

She is expected to get better within a fortnight but a medical source said it can take up to six months to recover fully, meaning her X Factor commitments could be under threat.